Final Call

by Rachel Ann Nunes

  Shannon turned and snapped his fingers at the medic. “Get over here! She’s ingested poison.”

  I turned, feeling sick. Already Erica was gasping for breath, her hands clinging to the front of Walsh’s shirt as he cradled her in his arms. She could be acting, like she had in the kitchen. Regardless, I didn’t want to watch. I had my own demons to deal with. Tawnia had also turned away and was cradling Destiny, talking softly to her.

  I’d almost killed them.

  With stumbling steps, I pushed my aching self to the bathroom as fast as I could go. Only when the door was shut behind me did I let myself cry, dragging in huge gulps of air between sobs, my right fist shoved against my face to muffle the noise. I couldn’t do this anymore. It was one thing to put myself in danger in order to save people, but the last time Jake had been in danger and this time Tawnia had come too close. They hadn’t chosen this life, as Shannon and Tracy had, and I wouldn’t endanger them anymore.

  I was through. I’d wear gloves all the time, even in the summer, and I’d forget I’d ever had such a miserable talent.

  “Autumn.”

  I hadn’t heard anyone come in, but arms went around me. Shannon’s arms. I recognized the feel from my dreams. I recognized his smell. Though I’d dreamed of this moment, it had never felt so good—or so painful as the pressure of his hug exacerbated the pain of my wound. I didn’t care. It was less than I deserved.

  He held me as my shoulders shook, my body convulsing with tears.

  “I’m finished,” I told him when I could finally speak.

  The pain in my arm faded to a dull throb, and his hold lessened. “If I had a dollar for every time I’ve thought that—”

  “I mean it. My sister and Destiny—they could have died.”

  “But they didn’t. And now you’ve learned why you’ll never let them come along on any investigation, no matter how innocent it seems.”

  I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. Trouble finds me.”

  “You’ll feel differently later. Believe me. Give it some time before you decide.”

  I kept silent, my tears suddenly gone. I wasn’t going to change my mind. If this is what my talent led to, I absolutely didn’t want it.

  “We still need to find Rosemary,” he said. “You care about that, don’t you?”

  I wanted to scream that I didn’t care, that I didn’t want to ever hear her name again. But it would be a lie. I still wanted to help Liam and his mother—and even the controlling Mr. Taylor.

  “Grady might know where she is,” Shannon continued. “Since he was going to help Erica hide Cheyenne’s body. But if they dumped Rosemary in the Willamette, we might never find her.”

  I shook my head. “Grady doesn’t know where Rosemary is, but—” I stopped. “Wait a minute. Erica said something about a warehouse that belonged to her first foster family. She claims they kept bodies there—or told her that to make her obey. Maybe that’s what she had in mind for Cheyenne. Maybe that’s where she and Cheyenne took Rosemary.”

  Leaving her to die? Or had she already been dead?

  Chapter 19

  Shannon was already drawing out his phone and barking orders. He was good at that. In no time, they would track down the warehouse, whether or not it still belonged to the foster family.

  Despite my resolve, I felt a stirring of interest. “Grady might know more than he’s told us,” I said.

  “Tracy’s talking to him now. We’ll move as soon as we get word.”

  “Not me. I’m finished, remember?”

  “You don’t want to be there when we find her?”

  “What if she’s dead?” That was something I couldn’t deal with right now—or did I owe it to Liam to represent him when they found her?

  “Then we tell the family. But trust me. You’ll change your mind about quitting. I actually wish you wouldn’t, but I know you too well.”

  “Do not.” Something about him always brought out my contrariness.

  His arms went around my waist, and that look was back in his eyes.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, my voice scarcely audible.

  “What I should have done six months ago.” His lips met mine, jumping past gentle and plunging into urgency and demand. I answered him back with like emotion. His arms tightened, pulling me closer. My skin tingled, and my heart jumped into overdrive. Time stopped. The world ceased to rotate. All the fear and worry of the past hours disappeared. I couldn’t even feel the throbbing in my arm. It was just the two of us, alone, finally getting to the point we’d both been fighting since the day we’d first met.

  It was more than worth the wait.

  We might never have pulled away if Shannon’s phone hadn’t started vibrating. We ignored it as long as possible, but he finally brought it to his ear. “What is it? Okay. We’re on our way.” He looked at me. “They’ve found the warehouse. You want to come?”

  I nodded, though I still meant what I said about quitting. That world-shattering kiss didn’t change that.

  It only changed everything else.

  In the prop room, everyone was busy taking samples, pictures, or roping off the area with tape. Two officers were leading Grady outside. Erica and Walsh were nowhere to be seen.

  “You coming?” Tracy called to us impatiently from the outside door.

  Shannon and I hurried to meet her. Or rather, he hurried, and I struggled to keep up.

  “Autumn!” Tawnia said. “What’s going on? Where’re you going?”

  “We might have found Rosemary.”

  “I’m coming.”

  I whirled. “No. Please. Just go home.”

  “What’s wrong with you?” She looked at me blankly.

  “I almost got you killed. And Destiny, too.”

  “You?” She shook her head. “You told me not to do the play. I should have listened. It was my fault, my choice. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a big girl now.” She’d struck exactly the right mixture of indignance and reassurance, and the tight grip on my heart lessened slightly. “I’m Emma’s mother,” she said. “I should have been more careful.”

  “Then start now,” I said. “Go home.”

  She shook her head. “I’m going to wait until I know they’ve got everyone involved. Until then, the safest place is with them.” She cocked her head at Shannon and Tracy.

  “Enough talk,” Tracy groaned. “Come on, already. This isn’t going to be dangerous. Trust me.”

  I relented. Not because I was worried there were more accomplices, or because I thought my sister would be in further danger, but because I really, really wanted to feel her near, to feel the connection between us thick and strong.

  We went to Shannon’s car. “Guess I’ll need another car seat,” Tawnia said, strapping the ruined one between us. “But this will have to do for right now.” Destiny, looking no worse for wear, grinned up at us.

  Shannon used the siren, and the blocks passed in a blur. I soon recognized the area where we were heading. Lovely. The lousy warehouse just had to be down by the Willamette. Silently, I prayed that Rosemary would be okay, that by some miracle she was still alive.

  We arrived as officers emerged from the building. An ambulance was already there, and as we climbed from the car, two EMTs came from the building with a figure on a stretcher. Shannon strode over. “She okay?” he asked.

  I held my breath for the answer. Rosemary had been missing since Thursday night and that meant almost five full days lying there injured and without water.

  One of the EMTs, a bulky blond with a flushed face, nodded. “She’s badly dehydrated, and she’s lost a lot of blood, but she’s stable for now. We hope that big gash on the back of her head has released enough pressure that the swelling won’t have caused permanent brain damage. The doctors will know more once th
ey examine her, but already she’s responding.” Even as he spoke, her eyelids fluttered. The paramedic bent down to talk to her, and she nodded faintly at his question.

  “What hospital are you taking her to?” I asked, struggling to pull out my phone to call Liam. It just happened to be in my left pocket, and my arm was back to that incessant throbbing.

  “Detective Martin, can I talk to you?” An officer who’d come from the building appeared at Shannon’s side. He glanced at us, indicating that it was official business.

  “You can talk freely,” Shannon said.

  The officer nodded. “We found her in the attic here, more a storage loft, really. Wrapped in a heavy quilt. Fortunately for her since it’s been so cold. It was a long, steep flight of stairs to get her up there. Must have been a strong man or two people.”

  Erica and Cheyenne, I thought.

  “And that’s not all,” the officer continued. “We found more human remains. Skeletal. A male and a female, we think.”

  “Better call it in,” Shannon said.

  So the actors who had missed final call on their opening night eight years ago would finally be put to rest. Their families would have closure. I wondered how much comfort it would be to them.

  At least one family would have good news. I pushed the button on my phone to call Liam, only to see Shannon staring at me.

  “What happened to your arm?” Barely concealed anger threatened to slice through the warm cocoon of denial I’d been building. “Is that a bullet hole?”

  I scowled at the hole in my coat and the bloodstains that had blended so well with its fabric inside the dim theater. “Just a scratch. It’s packed. Probably not even bleeding anymore.” Our standard joke, but he didn’t look happy. Not my fault he wasn’t as good at detection as I was at denial.

  “One of these days,” he growled.

  “Is that you, Autumn?” a voice said in my ear.

  I turned my back on Shannon. “Hey, Liam. I have good news.”

  The hospital was our next stop, and our last before home since Shannon had two officers drive our cars over from the theater. I had no idea how they got my car started—probably had to jump it again—but I was grateful. I never wanted to see the theater again. In fact, I doubted I’d ever go to another play. At least not for a very, very long time.

  Of course, my life was far more entertaining and complicated than any play.

  Or used to be. I was still quitting.

  Liam and his parents showed up at the hospital, but that wasn’t all. As Liam had requested when I talked to him, I’d called his grandparents, and even now they were here, hugging Mrs. Taylor and Liam. Mr. Taylor had a scowl on his face, but he wasn’t interfering, and I even saw him shaking his father-in-law’s hand. What they made of the future was up to them. I was out of it.

  My newly wrapped arm was feeling nicely numb from an injection the doctor had given me before stitching me up. The bullet had gone clear through the fleshy part of my arm, in a downward angle after passing through the table, and though it had hurt like crazy, he assured me I wouldn’t have any permanent damage. I didn’t even have to receive a blood transfusion or stay for observation, thanks to the support of my coat and how tightly I’d shoved in that cloth from the theater—which turned out to be men’s pantaloons used in the theater’s rendition of Peter Pan. I would have to buy a new coat, however, which was far more pleasant to think about than how close it had been for me in that prop room.

  Information filtered in as I was treated and as we waited to hear about Rosemary. Some college students who’d seen the police at the theater and come to investigate claimed that Erica had found them down the street playing paintball and paid them to leave their cars in the theater parking lot and to loiter about until another car drove up. She was playing a prank on her sister, she told them. They’d been there half an hour before the car arrived. They watched Tawnia go inside and then drove their cars away. Erica’s own vehicle was found one street over.

  “Do you think Erica was also responsible for the other times they had to cancel the play?” Tracy asked. “I mean, someone with cancer might not have had an autopsy. She could have been poisoned, too. And the woman in the car accident might have ingested just enough to make her crash. Could it really be a coincidence?”

  Shannon shook his head. “At least one of the bodies was cremated, so we may never know.”

  I chose to believe it was coincidence. Sometimes you do what you have to do to stay sane.

  Which was why I was quitting.

  The most shocking thing we heard while waiting was that doctors had been able to save Erica. Barely. Either the poison she’d carried had lost potency over the years, or she hadn’t ingested enough. She might have to use a wheelchair and oxygen for the rest of her life, but she would live to pay for her crimes. Walsh would pay, too, once his wife learned the entire story.

  At last the doctor came to talk to Liam’s family, who shared the good news: Rosemary’s skull had needed to be opened to reduce pressure, she’d had two blood transfusions, and she would eventually have a head full of stitches, but she was going to be all right. Maybe I’d get that chance to be her friend.

  “Okay. Let’s go home.” I was sitting in the waiting room, hands in my lap, careful to touch absolutely nothing.

  “Wait,” Tawnia said. “I almost forgot. We have another case.” When she saw my expression, she amended carefully, “I mean you have another case.”

  I shook my head. “I’m done. I really mean it.” I could feel Shannon’s eyes on me, but I didn’t look his way. The only effect I wanted him to have on me was the one where the world stopped. No one was going to convince me to use my ability again, especially not him. “I thought that was what you’ve been wanting.”

  “Well, yeah, but I know how much it means to you to use your gift to help people.” Tawnia pulled out a newspaper. “Take a look at this before you say no. I was reading it at the store while I was waiting my turn at the counter. You know, just skimming. I didn’t get the chance to read the paper this morning like I usually do. Then I saw this.” She opened it to the middle and shoved it under my nose. Shannon and Tracy both leaned in for a better look.

  For a full minute I was speechless. No. It couldn’t be. But there it was, the exact picture Tawnia had drawn this morning of the grizzled man sitting on the porch of his squat house. The man we suspected was our birth father.

  “Read the article,” she said. “It’s not really even about him. A young girl from Hayesville has gone missing. Here, let me read this bit: ‘She was last seen in the area of Cody Beckett’s house. In light of his police record, Mr. Beckett has been questioned and named a person of interest, but as yet no charges have been filed.’” Tawnia met my eyes. “We have to help them find her. If Laina’s right and he’s living there precisely so he won’t hurt anyone, we can’t let them pin this on him.”

  “He may have fathered us, but we don’t owe him anything,” I retorted.

  “Maybe he didn’t do it.”

  “Maybe he did.” The coldness was back in my heart.

  “Then you put him away.” This from Shannon. I looked up at him, feeling exposed. He did know me too well. How had that happened?

  “Okay,” I said. “Maybe I can go see him. But only if you’ll promise to stay out of it, Tawnia. Please.” Tears stung my eyes, but I blinked them away.

  “Don’t worry. I want to meet him, of course, but I’ll stay well away from any investigation.” She gave me a wistful smile. “I’ll trust you to take care of yourself.” That was a huge leap—both her urging me not to quit and her trusting me to defend myself.

  “If you want company,” Shannon said, “I’ve been meaning to see a bit more of our beautiful state of Oregon. I hear down that way there’s a lot of nice land.”

  I looked up at him. “Speaking of l
and, I don’t believe you’ve ever shown me your acre.” I needed to see it, to know more of the real him.

  “I could have you over for dinner sometime. I make a mean pasta.”

  Tracy groaned. “Watch out. He’s nuts about pasta—soggy, horrible junk. Thank heaven he’s finally stopped trying to force it down my throat.”

  “Is it organic pasta?” I asked, coming to my feet. “Only certain whole wheat pastas are even any good, and I don’t eat white pasta. Or white anything.”

  My sister laughed. “She really means it. Curse of my life.”

  Shannon sighed. “Maybe you should make it, then. Or we could go out. We have a lot to talk about.” This last was said in an undertone so the others couldn’t hear.

  I was more interested in repeating the experience we’d shared in the bathroom at the theater, though I wasn’t looking forward to talking to Jake, and I was sure there would be other challenges down the road. Shannon and I had been combating each other too long for a smooth transition. He was too stubborn. I was too.

  “All that will have to wait until we check in at the precinct,” Tracy said, holding up her phone. “I already have three messages from the chief, and I bet you do, too.”

  Shannon grimaced. “I have four.” He didn’t even look around to see who might be watching before he put his arms around me, being altogether too careful about my hurt arm. “I’ll call you later.” His whispered breath was warm on my cheek. I wanted to say something sarcastic to cut the tension, but I couldn’t think of a blessed thing. I simply nodded.

  “So,” Tawnia said when they were gone, “what happened in that bathroom, anyway?”

  “You saw him go in?”

  She shrugged. “I was worried about you.”

  Again the memory of her near death threatened to reduce me to a bowl of gelatin, but I shoved the thoughts away. Shannon was right. Maybe I needed to let a little time pass before I made a final decision about my future and my gift.