Dark Visions

by Jonas Saul

  It could be that he'd already killed the muscle out by the Cadillac and he'd find no resistance in the trailer. He hoped that was the case.

  With the fake police badge in hand, he knocked on the trailer door and stood to one side.

  "Police! Open up!"

  Chapter 37

  Amelia jumped when the doorbell rang. Whether it was the phone or the doorbell, she was a jumble of nerves. Caleb got up to answer it, escorted by Detective Johnson.

  "I'm glad you could come, Dolan."

  Greetings were made all around while Amelia stood back, feeling wary. She watched everyone head to the dining room. She went to the kitchen where she poured a pot of coffee into an urn. It was around seven in the morning. Coffee would be needed. She grabbed the cream and sugar tray and made her way to the dining room.

  She set the tray down beside the urn and looked up at Dolan. Conversation subsided around the table.

  "Hello Mrs. Roberts," Dolan said.

  She nodded and looked away. There was something about Dolan's eyes. It felt like he could see into her thoughts. She wondered if mind-reading was one of his talents.

  The seat beside her husband was empty. She sat down and said, "I'm happy you're here, especially since you said on the phone that you have an idea of where Sarah is, but I still have difficulties with some things."

  No one spoke. Caleb placed a hand on Amelia's leg. She read it as a gesture to take it easy, don't forget that he's here to help.

  "I know how hard this must be for you. I'd be happy to clear up any misunderstandings there may be, but we haven't got a lot of time," Dolan said.

  "I want Sarah back. That's first and foremost." She looked at him again. Their eyes locked. Amelia told herself not to look away.

  "I understand completely," Dolan said. "We're all on the same page. I've worked on a number of missing person cases over the years and, thankfully, they've all turned out well. With the information I have, I think we've got a good chance of locating her today. But we need to act soon."

  Her head swam a little. She looked down at her coffee mug. He was saying what she wanted to hear.

  "I just need a minute or two. Try to understand something for me. My family visits a Psychic Fair that you run. One of your people," she used her fingers for quotation marks, "meets with my daughter and warns her of danger. We get phone calls from the fair the next day and then my daughter is kidnapped. But not before she tries to break into the Psychic Fair grounds. There's got to be more to this than I know. What I need to know is how the fair is tied into this?"

  "I wouldn't say the fair is tied into it. My people are all intuitive in some way and if one of them warns a customer about their future, it doesn't make the psychic responsible for that person's well-being. It's the same thing if you are driving me somewhere and I notice you're a very erratic driver. I say to you, if you're going to continue driving like this, one day you'll be in an accident. Then two days later you have a car accident. It doesn't make it my fault."

  Amelia looked away, her eyes glazing over. She decided not to pursue her suspicions this way. "We're all here because you said you knew where my daughter was. I'm willing to look past a number of coincidences if I can get my daughter back."

  Dolan turned to the cops, then back to Caleb. She didn't want to come across as ungrateful, but there was something about him or his Psychic Fair that she didn't trust.

  Dolan shifted in his seat. "I met your daughter at the fair. It was brief, rather quick actually. We bumped into each other. She lost her balance and sat on the floor where she jotted something down in her notebook. Before she stood up, I noticed she'd written my name. She'd circled it and yet we've never met. Would you know anything about this? You're her parents. Is there anything you can tell me?"

  Amelia looked at Caleb for support. He shook his head and told everyone present that he had no idea what Dolan was talking about.

  "When you bumped into Sarah at the fair, why didn't you warn her of the danger coming?" Amelia asked.

  "I didn't do a reading for her. I don't have knowledge about everything and everyone. You have to concentrate and focus while doing a reading. Touch something the person owns, feel the information trickle through my spirit guide."

  "But you claim to be psychic."

  "Yes I do and I am."

  "Then let's get started."

  Dolan turned to Detective Johnson. "Sam, have you got a tactical team on standby?"

  The detective nodded. He had a pen and pad in his hand waiting to write down whatever Dolan told him.

  Caleb reached for the urn that no one else had touched yet and poured himself a coffee.

  "I think Sarah is being held at a cabin on Lake George."

  Amelia listened as Dolan gave directions. At one point he looked at Amelia and Caleb when the detective asked what he was going to find there. Was Sarah alive? Dolan answered that she was fine, other than some bruising. He said he wasn't getting much more, except they needed to hurry. He felt that her kidnapper was going to move her to a new location, or is moving her as we speak.

  Amelia watched everyone spring into action. Detective Johnson got on a phone and started ordering people to the site. Dolan got up and left the room. Other officers made themselves busy with maps.

  Caleb looked at her. "I want to go with them," he whispered.

  "Me too," she said.

  Caleb leaned closer and lowered his voice. "But I think we should follow them in our own car. There's no way they'll let us come along on police business. Besides, they'd be worried about the state they find Sarah in."

  Amelia nodded. Out of the corner of her eye she saw one of the tech guys staring at them. He looked around the room and then beckoned them to join him. Caleb and Amelia stood up and followed the tech guy into Caleb's den.

  "What's going on?" Amelia asked.

  They were alone. The cop closed the door behind them.

  "I think there's something the two of you should know."

  "Tell us. We want all the information we can get," Caleb said.

  "It involves Kim Wepps; the girl who was abducted over six months ago and then found safe in a basement. The description of her captor resembles witness accounts of the guy who snatched your daughter on Birk Street. Kim Wepps was taken to an abandoned farm where Dolan found her while utilizing his psychic powers. I'm not a big believer in psychic stuff and with all these girls kidnapped within six months of each other, and by what looks like the same guy, just seems a little strange to me."

  "Why are you telling us this?" Amelia asked.

  "I suspect Dolan is involved in some way."

  Amelia and Caleb look at each other. "Go on," Amelia prodded.

  "It's too close to where he is all the time. The kidnappings look like they're following a geographical pattern. It just came up recently."

  "Are you saying Dolan may be masterminding the kidnappings, just to be able to locate the victims and look good so the Psychic Fair is profitable?" Caleb asked.

  Amelia could hear anger in Caleb's voice. She put her hand on his shoulder and rubbed back and forth to calm him.

  "We were running some scenario's, working on the kidnapper's M.O. We've been able to link over a dozen kidnappings to the same guy or group in the past five years. Coincidentally, all of those kidnapper's lose their victim to Dolan and his psychic abilities. There are kidnappings happening all over the country, but Dolan finds the victims of just this one kidnapper with the same M.O."

  Amelia stepped back and leaned against the wall, taking her hand from Caleb's shoulder. "Why are you telling us this? Does Dolan know he may be linked to these kidnappings in some way? Or that you guys suspect it?"

  "Not yet. Detective Johnson doesn't want him knowing anything until Sarah is brought home. Whether Dolan is involved in a crime or he's really psychic doesn't matter with Sarah still out there. If we tip Dolan off, things could go south. But, if Dolan is kept in the dark, Sarah will come home safe like all the rest of the victims before he
r and then we can work on Dolan."

  "Okay, let's go," Caleb said.

  "Where're you going?" the cop asked.

  "To Lake George to get our daughter."

  Chapter 38

  Gert took a deep breath, steadied himself, and then knocked again. Rustling sounds came from inside the trailer. Someone was definitely inside.

  He turned and checked behind him. Nothing moved except the natural flow of foliage in the gentle morning breeze that cruised through the area. Even the highway was quiet.

  He turned his eyes back to the trailer. More sounds came to him from behind the door. He leaned closer, almost touching the wood with his ear. It sounded like two people were whispering an argument.

  He knocked on the door with the butt of the gun. "Police! Open up!"

  The lock clicked. Gert stepped back a little, his gun raised.

  The door opened and a woman stepped into view.

  "Come out slowly, with your hands up. Is there anyone else in there with you?" He winked one eye, batting at a drop of sweat.

  "I need to see a badge. I heard shots and now I'm being ordered out of the trailer at gun point. You don't look like a cop."

  Gert knew a gun could be trained on him right now. What the hell was this place? If security was tight enough to use goons like the two dead guys in the back, then these people were being extra cautious for some reason. He lowered his gun in a friendly gesture.

  "I'm spooked too, ma'am. I drove around back for a routine visit of these premises and I get shot at. I have back-up en-route. An officer went missing sometime last night. Witnesses reported seeing his patrol car heading out of town in this direction. We're just checking everything out."

  Gert loved it when he thought quickly. The trailer was here yesterday so it was safe to assume someone saw him dump the cop car.

  He lifted his fake badge high enough for the woman to see. She leaned forward and squinted in the sun. Only an expert would be able to tell this badge was a fake.

  The woman stepped from the trailer. "Is it okay if I keep my hands at my side? I'm not armed."

  Gert nodded. "Just no sudden movements. Who're you and why are you here? What is this place?"

  "My name is Denise Hall. I own this property. We were going to renovate the motel, then sell it."

  "So why the two goons in the back? Why would they start shooting at a cop without provocation?" He felt like he actually sounded official.

  She moved away from him, her head hung down like she was thinking.

  He heard a cell phone ringing.

  "Do you mind if I take this call?"

  It would look suspicious if he said no. "Go ahead."

  He watched her reach into her pocket and slowly pull out a cell phone. She flipped it open and said hello.

  He took the opportunity to scan the area; no one in sight. He looked at the trailer and saw nothing.

  When he looked back at her she had a strange look on her face. He couldn't quite read it. He guessed she looked shocked and afraid. She said she'd call the person back and put her phone away fast.

  "Everything okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

  "That was my mother. After over fifteen years, she calls me on my cell to warn me."

  Her face lost color. The woman started shaking her head. She took another couple of small steps away from him.

  Something was wrong. Something he didn't understand.

  He adjusted his grip on the gun handle where sweat was cooling his palm. At any moment he might have to drop and shoot.

  "Why did you knock on the trailer door?"

  What an odd question. She must be pretty stupid. "If you had two people shoot at you for no reason you'd check the area out too."

  "Right. But why not wait for back-up. Who knows how many people could be in that trailer."

  She continued to move around until she was on the highway side of him. Now he stood with his back to the trailer. He wasn't an idiot. He knew there was someone else in the trailer and he figured it was the girl.

  She stared at him.

  He'd run out of time. She was stalling.

  Something was wrong.

  He drew his gun up, fired, and jumped to the right all in one motion. His bullet missed the woman.

  This isn't something he'd practiced a lot. It made him feel like he was in the movies.

  The ground was hard, nearly winding him when he landed on his right shoulder. The landing didn't quite go as planned.

  Dust plumed up in a small torrent about his face. Someone was shooting at him now. Small explosions erupted inches from him.

  He rolled toward the trailer. Within seconds he was under the shelter of the trailer's wooden steps.

  The woman was running past the SUV parked in the lot. She was going for the highway. He pointed and fired three quick shots off. He saw at least one hit her.

  She fell and grabbed her lower right leg. Her wails reached him with unnerving accuracy. Gert knew he wouldn't be able to hear anyone in the trailer now.

  He turned and crawled deeper under it, constantly scanning the grounds around him for legs.

  Dust filled his nose. By the time he got to one end of the trailer and rolled onto his back he couldn't breathe too well. He got his elbows braced in the dirt. He edged out from under the trailer and looked up the side. A solitary window sat directly above him.

  He took one more look left and right. The woman still screamed a nasty wail. He felt it resonate through his body with a kind of joy.

  He squirmed forward, clearing the edge of the trailer. There were a couple of bullets left in his weapon. He would have to do this right the first time.

  He stood and peeked around the edge to get a look at the main door.

  No one was visible. The shooter was still inside.

  He took a large step toward the door and threw his badge inside the unit. While the badge was still in flight, he was hustled back for the window at the end of the trailer.

  He popped his head up and looked in. A large man stood staring at the door with a gun strapped on his shoulder.

  Gert put his gun to the screen side of the window. He aimed as best he could and fired all the remaining ammunition into the trailer.

  After the noise of his gun, the area had an eerie quiet to it. The woman in the parking lot of the motel had quieted her screams a little.

  He ducked down and scurried around the back where he came to another window. He eased up and looked in. The big guy was on the floor with his hands clamped around his neck. Blood gushed past his fingers.

  Gert was surprised at how little he felt when snuffing a life out. There had been too much killing and he was growing numb to it.

  The sun beat down on his back. He agreed with it. This place was hot. It was time to go before people started showing up.

  He ran around to the front and jumped on the stairs. His gun was empty, but he kept it raised in a firing position anyway.

  The big guy lay in the doorway. He wasn't moving now, blood circled around his head.

  Gert ran to the back and found nothing. He turned around and headed in the other direction.

  This was his last chance. He had to find the girl. He had to get out of this place fast.

  A wall had been built to block this part of the trailer off from the rest. He kicked the door five times before it buckled and broke open.

  And there was his prize. His little Automatic Writer. He aimed the gun at her, grabbed her by the wrist and started for the door.

  She whimpered and shook her head. She appeared dazed.

  A new plan formed when he stepped outside. The SUV would be a much better vehicle than the cop car. He opened the back door of the SUV and pushed the girl inside without too much resistance. She was acting lethargic, cradling her head in her hands.

  He looked at the steering column; no keys. Three steps got him to the woman on the ground. She was sprawled out, sweating and pale.

  "Keys," he said, waving his hand in the air. "Give the
m to me and I won't kill you."

  Her left hand moved. She pointed at the left pocket of her slacks. He bent and fished inside where he found a set of car keys.

  "Good. You tell them the truth of what happened here. Tell everyone who asks that I've got the girl and I will kill her if I don't get what I want."

  Gert turned to leave and then stopped. There had been so many things wrong about this from the start. There was no way he'd be able to go back living a normal life of small time jobs.

  After the cop was killed on the highway, Gert knew his boss was lying to him.

  There would be no other city, no other kidnappings.

  The team was dead.

  His boss would want him dead because if he was captured, maybe he'd talk.

  He knew it was over.

  He turned and looked down at the woman in the dirt. The blood had slowed its exit from her ankle area. She'd been applying constant pressure, trying to staunch the flow. He noticed the sun glint off something in her hand; a cell phone.

  Good. She probably called for help.

  "Whatever you say to the cops will be heard by the man I work for. Tell them that I've decided I will finish this my way."

  Chapter 39

  Sam looked through the windshield of the unmarked cruiser at the passing clouds. Some were dark with rain, others gray and dreary.

  "I wonder if the weather's gonna hold off," Sam said.

  Dolan didn't answer him. They'd been on the side of the highway for fifteen minutes waiting for the ETF to give them the go ahead to approach the cabin.

  "You okay, Dolan?"

  "Sure."

  "You seem tense. Something you want to talk about?"

  Dolan shook his head. "I'm a little confused on this one. There's something different about this case."

  "How's that?" Sam grabbed his coffee from the holder in the dash and took a sip.

  "I don't know much yet, but it's coming to me."

  "What do you know?"

  Dolan turned and looked at him. Sam set his coffee back. "I know someone close to me is going to get killed."