Wraith

by Gwenan Haines

  The silence spun out for so long I didn’t think either of them would answer me.

  “We’re not what you think we are,” the wounded man said finally. “We’re not the bad guys.”

  “Yeah, well you could’ve fooled me. Usually the good guys aren’t the ones drugging little kids and holding them at gunpoint.”

  “Sometimes things have to be sacrificed,” he went on hoarsely, “for the greater good.”

  “So let me get this straight,” I said, “you’re telling me you go around kidnapping people’s children for some higher purpose? Are you totally nuts?”

  The man who’d shot Hunter laughed quietly. “Kinda looks that way, doesn’t it? But if you knew everything you wouldn’t see us in quite the same way.”

  “Yeah, well, I doubt that,” I said. “Unless you’d like to be a little more specific.”

  “Nice talkin’ to you,” the wounded man said. “But I think it’s time we headed out.”

  The two of them crawled into the hole and disappeared into the darkness. I reached into my jeans and grabbed the flashlight, aiming the beam at them as they crawled toward the outer cavern. I wasn’t sure if I’d done the right thing or not in letting them go, but when they faded from sight it finally felt as if I could breathe again.

  I waited for the distant roar of an engine. Then I waited another five minutes before creeping into the passageway that led to the outer cave. Outside, it was light and the storm had lost its intensity. The snow was still falling heavily but the wind had died down and the trees were still. The snowmobiles were where Hunter and I had left them, covered in snow.

  I tried to sort out what the men had told me but none of it made sense. The only explanation that worked was that they’d been lying to me. But it hadn’t sounded that way.

  When I got back to the inner cave, Hunter smiled at me and collapsed onto the floor.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Annie asked, getting up from her spot beside him and stumbling toward me. “Is he dead?”

  “No,” I said. “But we need to go get help. Do you have a jacket and some mittens?”

  She nodded. “They’re not mine.”

  “That’s okay. Can you go get them and put them on for me?”

  Annie headed over to where the campfire had been and lifted a child’s jacket off the ground. I knelt down over Hunter and smoothed his hair back from his forehead. “I don’t know if you can hear me or not,” I said. “I’m taking Annie and we’re going to bring help back here.”

  He opened his eyes and gazed up at me. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll be okay.”

  By the time Annie reached me she’d gotten the coat on and was struggling with the zipper. I pulled it up for her and helped her get the mittens on.

  “We need to leave right now to get help,” I told her. “Are you ready?”

  Beneath my hand, Hunter’s skin was cool. I realized then how cold it was in the cave, especially now that the fire was almost out. The fears I’d managed to keep at bay for the past hour closed in on me. If anything happened to him it would be my fault and I would lose the only person in the world I trusted. Tears pricked at the back of my eyes as I forced myself to get up off the cave floor.

  “I’ll be back for you.” I stood up and took Annie’s hand.

  “I know.” He tried to smile.

  It still surprises me that I hadn’t noticed them sooner. Three wolves stood at the entrance to the cave, their silver fur aglow by the light of the fire. They were larger than ordinary wolves and their eyes were intelligent, almost human.

  Hunter raised his head off the ground slightly and followed my gaze. “This is getting to be a habit with you guys,” he said, letting his head fall back and closing his eyes.

  Annie and I stood without moving as the wolves approached. Her eyes were wide but they held no fear. “They’re beautiful,” she breathed as the wolves slipped past us and arranged themselves in a circle around Hunter.

  I’m still not sure why I wasn’t afraid of the wolves. Maybe it was because of all the years the wolves had waited at the edge of the pond while I landed my plane. Or the story Hunter told me about the wolves protecting him when he broke his arm. When Annie and I reached the opening to the passageway, I turned and saw the wolves asleep next to Hunter.

  And I smiled because I knew he was safe.

  Chapter 8

  “Two take-out orders of Chicken Valdostano coming right up.” The hostess gave me a mega-wattage smile and slid past me on her way through the restaurant. She pushed through the double doors as I stood amid the usual Saturday night crowd at the Blue Moon. Back at Bill’s place, Hunter was camped out on the couch while he waited for me to pick up the elaborate pasta dish he’d talked me into ordering.

  It hadn’t taken all that much talking. Just the idea that Hunter was out of the hospital was cause for celebration and if celebration included Italian food I couldn’t pronounce, then so be it. I didn’t mind taking a few culinary risks, not after what we’d been through over the past week.

  When the doors opened again I expected to see the hostess or one of the waitresses. Instead Liv emerged carrying a very large brown paper bag that had been folded at the top. Even if Liv had supersized the Chicken Valdostano, the bag looked way too big for just two orders. She smiled as she reached the waiting area and handed it to me.

  “Wow, what’s in there?” I asked, feeling the weight of it. “Are you seasoning your appetizers with rocks these days?”

  “Haven’t you heard?” Liv grinned. “Rocks are the new garlic.”

  I smiled at her corny joke. “Well, whatever you’ve added to our order, I know Hunter will appreciate it. After not eating anything but hospital food for two days he’s pretty voracious. Especially when it comes to your food.”

  “Annie’s upstairs,” she said. “She hasn’t gone to bed yet so if you want to stop up and say goodnight it’s okay.”

  I hesitated. Even though I suppose you could say Hunter and I had saved Annie I worried that seeing me might upset her. We hadn’t exactly spent our alone time under the best of circumstances. The minute we pulled up in front of the restaurant early that morning, the snowmobile had been swamped by police officers and volunteers. It had been a happy ending but I was sure Annie associated me with the kidnapping.

  “I’m running kind of late. Maybe next time.”

  “You saved my daughter’s life. What’s even more amazing is you did it after I treated you like dirt for trying to warn me. I want you to go up there so you can see for yourself how well she’s doing. Gavin’s with her and he wants to say hi too. We’re not exactly ready for babysitters yet—maybe by the time she turns eighteen we’ll be able to handle it.”

  I balanced the paper bag against my hip. “You’re sure about this?”

  “Absolutely one hundred percent sure.” Liv reached out and laid her hand on my parka sleeve. “No matter how much I do for you, I will never be able to repay you for what you did for me. I’m so sorry I doubted you, Kira.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” I meant it. “Most people doubt me. I even doubt myself a lot of the time.”

  “Well, I for one will never doubt you again,” Liv said. “And I’m going to keep on showing my gratitude until you’re an old woman. You may gain ten pounds over the next month if you keep eating here and that’s just the beginning. Now go.”

  ****

  Upstairs Gavin and Annie were in her room, building something elaborate with Legos. I guess Gavin’s tendency toward the complicated extended beyond food.

  I hesitated, hovering in the doorway.

  Annie rushed over to me and hugged my legs. I stood there holding the bag, looking for a place to set it down and not finding one. Every available surface was covered with stuffed animals and flowers. Apparently if your child gets un-kidnapped people want to show their appreciation.

  “Hi, Annie.”

  “Hi yourself.” She released my legs. “Do you want a stuffed animal for Hunter? I’ve got a
lot now.”

  “No, he’s all set. He’s got a polar bear that’s around a thousand years old. That’s pretty much all he needs.”

  I wondered if Hunter would want me telling them he still had his first toy and decided he wouldn’t mind. Especially if he didn’t know I’d told them.

  I took a tentative step into the room. “Liv told me it was okay to say goodnight to Annie.”

  “It’s more than all right,” Gavin said. “Though I don’t think we’ll be getting to bed anytime in the near future. Care to join us?”

  “Can’t.” I indicated the bag in my arms. “Hunter’s waiting for me.”

  Gavin handed a Lego to Annie. “How’s he doing?”

  “Better. He’s on crutches but the doctor says he should be off them in a couple of weeks. The bullet wound wasn’t deep and it missed the bone.”

  “Glad to hear it,” he said.

  “Gavin, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  His brow furrowed. “You didn’t have another vision, did you?”

  I shook my head. “Well, not exactly. I mean I did but that’s not what I want to confess.”

  “Confess.” He repeated the word but didn’t ask why I’d used it.

  “On the night Annie disappeared,” I began, avoiding his eyes. “I made up that last vision. It wasn’t real. I just wanted to give you both some hope because I wasn’t sure what would happen when we went out to the caves to find her.”

  “You don’t need to explain anything to me.” Gavin handed Annie another Lego. “But if it makes you feel better, I knew you were lying.”

  “You knew?”

  “Yup.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  He shrugged. “I figured you had your reasons. And I didn’t want to upset Liv even more.”

  “Well, anyway, I’m still sorry. I hate lying.”

  “That’s probably a good thing,” he said. “Because you suck at it.”

  “I did have another vision though.” I lowered my voice so that Annie, who’d migrated to the other side of the room, didn’t hear me. “Well, not a vision. A dream, which is what I usually have. Anyway, in the vision Annie was older, much older. In middle school, I think. She had some kind of sash over her shirt, sort of like the ones for Girl Scouts. That’s pretty much the extent of it but I guess what I’m trying to say is she was safe. I know you probably think I’m lying again to make you feel better but I’m not. I’m pretty sure the men who took her aren’t coming back.”

  Gavin studied my face for a long time. “I believe you,” he said. “Because last night I dreamt the same thing.”

  I stared at him. “Are you—you’re not—”

  “Hell, no,” he said. “But I am connected with Annie in a different way now, a way I can’t explain. So when I dreamt that I knew she was going to be all right. But it’s good to have corroborating evidence. And just to be on the safe side, I’ve more or less brainwashed Annie never to help anybody who knocks on her door and tells her his daughter’s puppy escaped in a snowstorm.”

  “I’m not generally a fan of brainwashing, but that’s okay with me.”

  In a way it’s sad that we live in a world where we have to force ourselves to be less human, not more. Even a tiny Alaskan village in the middle of a blizzard hadn’t been safe. I guess no matter how far you try to run from the shadows you can’t ever escape them. The best you can do is keep them at bay for a while.

  I hadn’t been lying about my vision. And it seemed unlikely the kidnappers would return. It was too risky. But I couldn’t help wondering if they’d targeted Annie or if her kidnapping had been a matter of chance. They’d wanted a child, that much was clear. But had that child been Annie or did they simply want a child from the area?

  Whatever the case, I was more sure than ever that Annie’s kidnapping, along with Tommy’s, were connected with Miki’s disappearance. If I was right about that then it meant children had been disappearing for a very long time. But no matter how hard I tried to figure out why I could never come up with an answer and on that topic my dreams weren’t very forthcoming. Other than the vision of Annie as a middle school student, I hadn’t dreamt anything else that could be considered unusual. It was back to white rice dreams, at least for the time being, as if my gift needed a rest.

  ****

  By the time I got to Hunter’s the food was lukewarm. I offered to throw it into the microwave but Hunter threatened to inflict bodily harm upon me if I even contemplated nuking one of Liv’s creations. So there we sat, eating enough cold pasta to feed a small army as we watched the third episode of Walking Dead.

  I’d been trying to decide if Hunter’s dad was angry at me or just baffled when he stopped me in the hallway when I was on my way back from the kitchen.

  “I owe you an apology,” Bill said. “I don’t know how you knew what you did and I still want to believe you’re just very good at making deductions. But however you knew where Annie would be, you saved her life. You two shouldn’t have gone out there on your own but you did. And I’m glad you did.”

  I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Hunter hadn’t told his dad I’d been the one who dragged him out to the caves that night against his better judgment. I couldn’t help wondering if Bill would feel differently if he knew I was the reason Hunter almost died.

  Before I could form a coherent sentence, Bill Jackson gave me a quick nod and disappeared upstairs.

  Hunter had already put the show on pause when I walked into the living room and sat down next to him, balancing my plate on my lap. Even with three days worth of stubble and hospital pallor, he still looked gorgeous. He leaned over and brushed his lips against my cheek, his face lit by the flickering blue light of the television.

  “I’m not going to forget you.” He touched my chin with his hand and turned my head toward his. “When I go back.”

  “I know.”

  “No. You don’t. But you will.” He kissed me then, softly, and laid a fingertip on my nose. “I want you to visit me in Anchorage.”

  For maybe the first time in my life I resisted the urge to pull away from somebody who cared about me. I leaned forward and kissed him back. “When?”

  “How about next week?”

  “Uh, that might be a little too soon.”

  “Okay,” he said stiffly. “There’s no rush.”

  I thought about explaining why, to tell him I intended to spend the next week making a few extra flights in the vicinity of the Arctic Circle.

  Instead I went with the old Ignorance Is Bliss routine. Because there was another thing I’d seen in my vision of the glass sea—a circular logo of white mountains merging with blue sky. It was the logo I’d seen on the arm of the man I’d shot in the shoulder. After the night of the storm, police hadn’t been able to pick up the trail of the two men who’d taken Annie. Nor had Hunter, Annie or I been able to identify either of the men from the FBI database photographs. I told investigators everything I knew but had held back one tiny piece of evidence. I hadn’t mentioned the logo on the man’s sleeve. I also failed to inform them I’d managed to locate a company that used a logo just like it. A company located on the cusp of the Arctic Circle.

  I set my plate onto the coffee table and leaned toward Hunter, kissing him so hard it took my breath away.

  “What was that for?” His expression was unreadable.

  “For putting up with me.”

  I settled back into my spot on the couch and grabbed my plate. “If you can wait a little bit longer, I promise I’ll visit.”

  Hunter watched as I cut into my chicken and took a tentative bite. If the intensity of my kiss had baffled him, he’d apparently decided not to question it.

  “Whenever you’re ready.” He raised the remote and hit play. “In the meantime, let’s watch Rick kick some zombie ass.”

  A word about the author…

  Gwenan Haines lives in New England with her daughter and a Siberian husky born on Halloween. She is the author of
three romantic suspense novels, as well as Shift, the second installment in the Shadow World series. She’s been hooked on suspense ever since she first read an old Nancy Drew mystery as a kid.

  When she’s not plotting her latest book she teaches community college and writes lots of poetry.

  For more info on her and her books, visit gwenanhaines.blogspot.com

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