by Kathi Daley
“Is it possible Tim went to buy the gas, came home and dropped off the receipt, and then headed north?”
“Possible, sure. Likely, no.”
“Did anyone you spoke to know for sure that Tim’s trip north had to do with his courier job?”
“No. No one other than Gill told me he was even heading north. There are too many unanswered questions at this point to begin to develop a viable theory as to exactly what Tim was doing.”
Shredder frowned. “Okay, so let’s go with the assumption Tim went north the day before his death to drop off whatever it was he was supposed to deliver.”
“It would seem so.”
Shredder picked up a phone book, then tossed it aside. “What else did you find?”
I held up the matchbook. “This is from a bar about sixty miles north of here. I have no way of knowing when Tim picked it up, but I also found this notepad. The last note Tim made dealt with the Grizzly Inn, which is about three hours north. It’s possible Tim stopped off at the bar on his way back from meeting someone at the inn.”
“Is there anything else on the note?”
“Just a time: Six pm. I guess we could call the inn to see if anyone who works there knows whether Tim met someone there the day before he died.”
Shredder shook his head. “It’d be better to drive up there and talk to the desk clerk in person. I found something in the bedroom that leads me to believe Tim may have visited that inn on other occasions.”
Shredder handed me Tim’s credit card statement. There were three charges for the Grizzly Inn in the past two months. All appeared to be one-night stays. One charge was for the night he died.
“I think we should go up there,” Shredder repeated. “Maybe spend the night.”
“What about the puppies? They need to be bottle-fed four times a day.”
“Is there anyone you can hire to stay at your house?”
Today was Saturday, which meant the veterinary office would be closed the next day. Justine had helped me out with my animals before when I’d been out of town. As long as we were back by dinnertime, she might be willing to spend the night at my house. “I do have someone I can ask, but we’d need to be back before dinner tomorrow at the latest.”
“Call your friend. If you can get someone to take care of the animals, I’ll call to reserve two rooms at the inn for tonight.”
“Do you want to leave Riptide with the other dogs?”
Shredder hesitated.
“I’m not sure the inn allows pets.”
“Okay. He seems to like hanging out at your place and I guess it would be easier.”
“Do you take him with you everywhere you go?”
“If I can.”
Justine was happy to help, so I had Shredder drop me at my house, where I hurriedly cleaned up a bit, fed all the animals, including the puppies, and exercised the dogs. Then I tossed a few things in an overnight bag before calling Jake to let him know I’d be out of town until the following evening. Jake was, of course, curious where I was going, with whom, and why. I filled him in the best I could without giving too much away over the phone, which I knew was far from secure. Shredder pulled up minutes after I finally convinced Jake I’d be fine and not to worry. Justine would be over when she got off work, so I left the front door unlocked and instructions for all the animals on the kitchen counter.
I glanced at the dark sky as we pulled onto the highway. “It looks like we’re in for some more snow.”
“Does it snow every day here?”
“Not every day, but it snows a lot. I assume you packed emergency supplies? It isn’t safe to travel this road without food, water, blankets, flares, flashlights, a fire starter, and a first aid kit.”
“I have everything we need should we become stranded. Did your friend show up?”
“She’ll be by after work. Did you fill up the tank? It’s a ways until the next gas station.”
“I topped it off on my way to pick you up. Have you told anyone where we’re going or what we hope to find?” he asked.
“Justine just knows I had to go out of town. She didn’t ask any questions and I didn’t offer any information. Jake asked lots of questions when I called him. You spoke to him about my having time off, right? He must have believed whatever story you told him because he agreed to it, but he’s always concerned about me. He wanted to know exactly where I was going, but I just told him we had a lead to follow up and I’d be out of town until tomorrow. I agreed to check in with him later tonight so he knows we reached our destination in one piece. He wasn’t happy I wouldn’t tell him more, but he knew there wasn’t anything he could do to stop me from doing what I believed I needed to do.”
“Do you think Jake has told anyone else we’re working together?”
“Not if you asked him not to.”
“When I spoke to him, I made sure he understood how important it was to be discreet.”
“Then you can trust him to keep what he knows to himself.”
Snow had begun to fall and Shredder turned the windshield wipers on low. “When I spoke to Jake about giving you time off to help me with my project, I got the impression you two had more than an employer/employee relationship. Are you dating?”
“Jake’s my brother-in-law.”
“I see. I didn’t realize you had a sister.”
“I don’t anymore. She died during a rescue when I was seventeen.”
“I’m sorry.”
I let out a long breath. “Yeah, me too. Do you have any siblings?”
“No, I’m an only child. I don’t think my parents would even have had me if nature hadn’t intervened. To be honest, I always felt like an intruder in their lives.”
“You were their son. I doubt they saw you that way.”
Shredder paused before answering. “My parents were really in to each other and the commune. Having a child put limitations on their activities. My dad told me that he knew my IQ was exceptional and I’d be an asset to my country, which was why they were willing to give me up, but I could tell he was glad I was going.”
I put my hand to my chest. “That’s so sad.”
Shredder shrugged. “It worked out okay. I love my life and my work, and I do feel my presence on this earth makes a difference.”
“Do you still see your parents?”
“I haven’t seen them since the day I left the commune.”
I was pretty sure I was going to cry. Shredder had parents he never saw by choice, while I’d give quite a lot to see my parents even one more time. It did sound like his parents had abandoned him, so I supposed I could understand how he felt.
“I hacked into Tim’s credit card account when I got back to the place I’ve been staying to get my things. The last charge was for the Grizzly Inn the night he left Rescue to head north.”
“So that must have been where he was going. I wonder what happened between the time he checked out of the inn and when his body was found.”
“I’m sure the answer to that question will reveal quite a lot. It would be easier if someone had seen him during those critical hours.”
“Just because no one I’ve spoken to has doesn’t mean no one did. I guess we just keep asking.”
Shredder didn’t respond, so I leaned forward to turn on the radio. Before I could find a station I liked, an image flashed in my mind. I closed my eyes and focused. “Someone’s in trouble.”
Chapter 9
“What do you mean?” Shredder asked as he slowed the vehicle and turned to look at me.
I kept my eyes closed so I wouldn’t lose the connection. “I can see people I’m meant to help in some way.”
“See them?”
“I’ll explain later. I see a car. It’s slid into a ditch. There are four people inside, two adults and two children.”
I could feel Shredder slowing the vehicle even more before he eventually pulled over to the side and stopped.
“Are they on this road?” Shredder asked.
I took a deep breath and focused my energy. The driver, a man, was injured. He’d hit his head when the car slid into the ditch. I sensed he was clinging to life. The woman in the front seat was unconscious, but not seriously injured. There was a little girl of around five or six in a booster seat in the back, along with a toddler in a car seat. Both of the kids were screaming hysterically.
I knew I needed to find them, and fast. I put my head in my hands and began to rub my forehead, still without opening my eyes. “They’re on a road that turns off from this one. A private road, I think. I can see a structure in the background. A house, I think, but I’m not sure. It’s dark.”
I took several deep breaths and focused harder. “Drive forward slowly. Look for a road that veers off to the left. It isn’t well-traveled and won’t be easy to spot.”
I could feel the vehicle begin to pull forward. I focused all my energy on the girl in the backseat. She stopped crying and looked around. “We’re coming for you,” I said with my mind.
“Where are you?” the girl said aloud.
“I need you to crawl into the front seat and turn on the headlights so we can see you,” I instructed.
“But there’s too much blood. I think my dad is dead. My mom too.”
“They aren’t dead,” I assured her.
“I still don’t see anything,” Shredder said.
I held up my hand but didn’t answer. I couldn’t afford to break the link I had with the child.
“I can’t do it,” the girl cried. “I’m too scared. Why can’t I see you?”
“I’m coming for you. I’ll be there soon, but I need you to do it.”
I could feel the girl’s terror as she slowly climbed over the seat. She sobbed loudly as she looked for the headlight switch.
“On the left,” I instructed. “That little knob near your dad’s hand.”
I could see the girl pull the knob. The area around the car was illuminated by the headlights. I was surprised the couple had been driving with the lights off in the first place. Based on what I could see, the accident hadn’t occurred much before I’d first picked up the connection.
“I see a light. Off to the left,” Shredder said.
“Head toward it. There’ll be a road. You’ll have to look carefully,” I said.
Shredder pulled onto the road, then stopped. We both jumped out and headed toward the car, which had settled on its side. I wedged the back door open and the girl I’d connected with flew into my arms. Shredder unbuckled the screaming toddler while I took the girl in my arms back to Shredder’s Humvee. Once both children were settled onto the backseat, we returned for the adults.
“We need an ambulance,” Shredder said as he felt for a pulse after pulling the man from the vehicle and settling him onto the snow. “He’s alive, but just barely.”
I held up my phone, but I had no lines.
“I have a satellite phone in the glove box,” Shredder informed me. He looked up at the falling snow. “I’m not sure it’ll work with the snow.”
“I’ll check.” I got up and ran to the Humvee while Shredder worked on extracting the woman from the car.
“Are they going to be okay?” the girl cried as I slid into the front passenger seat to look for Shredder’s phone.
“I hope so.” I took out the satellite phone, but it also was devoid of a signal. “We need to get them to a hospital, but the phones aren’t working.”
“The house,” the girl informed me. “There’s a radio in the house.”
Of course: the house I’d seen in my vision.
“It’s just down the road,” the girl added.
“Okay. Wait here. I’m going to help carry your parents to the Humvee.”
Shredder picked up the woman and headed toward the vehicle.
“What happened?” the woman asked as she regained consciousness.
“You were in an accident,” Shredder answered as he carried her to the vehicle.
“Hope and Faith?” The woman began to struggle.
“They’re fine,” I said.
Shredder set the woman down and she climbed in with her daughters while we returned for the man. He still hadn’t regained consciousness, so we lay him in the cargo area of the Humvee, then Shredder drove toward the house. The woman knew who to call for help, so we left her to it while we settled the injured man onto the bed.
“Help is on the way.”
The woman put her hand to her mouth. “Is he alive?”
“Yes,” Shredder confirmed. “I’ve had some medical training, but I’m not a doctor. The sooner help arrives the better. Do you have medical supplies?”
The woman nodded and left the room.
“Hold this towel over the cut on his head,” Shredder instructed. “We need to stop the bleeding.”
I did as Shredder instructed. He began to remove the man’s clothing, carefully looking for additional injuries as he did. The woman returned with a medical kit. Shredder thanked her, then suggested she go see to her children.
“Will he live?” I asked.
“I don’t know. He’s lost a lot of blood.”
“What can I do?”
“Pray.”
I tried to calm my jangled nerves as I did just that. I really needed Moose right then, but he obviously wasn’t within reach, so I needed to refocus my energy on my own. At least the girl I’d connected with hadn’t been injured. I could feel her terror, but I’m not sure how I would have dealt with her pain as well.
“Are you okay?” Shredder asked.
I nodded. “Making a psychic connection takes a lot out of me. I need a few minutes to recover.”
“I can handle this myself.”
I shook my head. “No. I want to help.” I glanced at the man’s bare torso. “It looks like he has a broken rib.”
Shredder frowned. “Yeah. It looks pretty bad. We need to be careful not to move him any more than we have. I hope I didn’t puncture his lung when I pulled him out of the car.”
“You had to get him out. He would have bled to death.”
“I know. It was the only choice. How’s the head doing?”
I lifted the towel. The blood flow had slowed. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad one.
I could see headlights out the window as a car pulled up. A man carrying a dark bag got out. I could hear the woman greet him and then lead him toward the room.
“This is Doc Barnes. He lives down the road a bit.”
I was hoping for an ambulance but was relieved to turn the responsibility for the man’s life over to a doctor, who set his bag on a nearby table and began to discuss the injuries with Shredder. I could see the men had it under control, so I followed the woman into the living room, where the children were watching a DVD.
“I’m so grateful you found us,” the woman said, tears spilling from her eyes. “When the accident first happened, I was sure no one would see us before we all froze to death. We were far enough off the main road that a car passing by wouldn’t see us, and Kurt must have hit the headlight switch when we rolled because everything went dark. I tried to get out of my seat belt, but I guess I must have passed out because the next thing I knew, your friend was carrying me to his vehicle.”
I was going to explain that we would never have found them if her older daughter hadn’t been brave enough to accept my voice in her head and follow my instructions, but the woman had been through enough. I made a comment about God’s intervention and left it at that. I sat down on the sofa and the older girl, who was Faith, crawled into my lap. She put her arms around me and hugged me tight.
“Thank you for coming,” she whispered into my ear.
“Thank you for allowing me to talk to you and then following my instructions.”
“When I heard your voice but couldn’t see you, I thought you must be an angel. Are you an angel?”
I pulled the warm child closer to my body. “No. Not an angel. But I do have a gift that allows me to talk to people who are in need of saving
. Most of the people I talk to aren’t as brave as you, though. Most try to block me out. You’re a very special girl.”
“That’s what Mama always says.”
I felt the girl’s tears through my shirt. She’d been so brave, but I knew an experience like this could take a lot out of you. I felt my own heart rate slow to normal as we waited to find out her father’s fate. It seemed I didn’t need Moose after all; the child in my arms helped me to harness my emotions and focus my energy.
She fell asleep after a while, but I continued to hold her and accept comfort from her warmth. I was about to doze off myself when the sound of sirens in the distance penetrated my mind. Once the ambulance arrived, everything happened quickly. Both the man and woman were transported to the hospital. A neighbor came to stay with the girls until their aunt arrived. I hated to leave them, but they seemed fine with the neighbor, and Shredder and I had other dragons to slay.
Chapter 10
The Grizzly Inn, which catered to hunters and fishermen during the summer, spring, and fall, was rustic. During the month of December, it played host to people from the area who came to the small town looking for the magic of Christmas. I’d stayed there years before, when my parents had brought Val and me for a family summer vacation. I’d always wanted to come back at Christmas, but until now I hadn’t gotten around to it.
“I feel like we traveled through a wormhole and came out in North Pole City,” Shredder commented as we drove slowly along the main street running through town.
“I know what you mean. I keep expecting to see Santa walking down the street.” I glanced out the window at the colorfully lit shops, candy cane lampposts, and the huge tree in the town square. “It’s nice, though. Oh, look.” I pointed at a group of carolers dressed in Victorian garb.
“You must really be in to Christmas.”
“Not really. My parents died in late December when I was thirteen and Val died almost exactly four years later. Most of the time I just want the holiday to pass. But I have to say I’m finding this town charming. I guess being able to help Faith’s family has given me a bit of the Christmas spirit this year.”
