by Casey Hagen
His lack of focus might have cost him his sister, he’d never know. He wouldn’t let it cost Leanne and Adam their daughter.
***
Lily choked back tears.
She wished she could help him with his sister, both then and now. But those were the visions that were never complete or clear. She called them full of blind spots. It was as though someone had taken a five-hundred-piece puzzle and run the individual pieces through a blender. There was a way to put them together again, but she had yet to get enough information to do so and she wondered if she ever would.
She kept the book as a record of what she had seen so far. Just in case.
Not that Mason cared about that. Not that she had made it clear.
She crawled out of his bed and wrapped herself in the towel.
She couldn’t stay here. Her heart couldn’t take the look in his eyes aimed at her. Not one more time. She dressed, knocked on Jasmine’s door, and pushed her way in. Jasmine lay sprawled out over every inch of the bed. How she managed it when she was all of one hundred and twenty pounds, Lily would never understand.
She called to her and got no answer.
Going over she shook her shoulder. Jasmine shot up and ripped the ear buds out of her ears.
“Dammit, Lily. You scared the hell out of me. You pulled me out of a hot dream to boot.”
“We need to get out of here.”
Jasmine looked around. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“He found it.”
“What?”
“The notebook.”
“Oh, Lil. Why’d you bring it here?”
“I couldn’t chance anything happening to it at the house. We don’t know who those guys were, or what they wanted.”
“Okay, but showing it to him? Not the best idea, Lily.”
“I didn’t show it to him. He found it.”
Jasmine raised a brow and smirked. “So he was going through your stuff?”
She had a point. Didn’t she have a right to be angry that he’d gotten into her things? Either way, it didn’t matter. What’s done is done.
And she and Mason were finished…long before they ever got started.
“We can bash him later for that, but right now, we need to go. I gave him Mara’s location so they’re going to pick her up. I’d like to be gone before he comes back,” her voice broke on the words despite how well she had done at holding her emotions together.
Jasmine climbed out of bed and put an arm around her. “Okay, Lily. Whatever you want.”
Lily got all her stuff moved to the foyer next to the front door while she waited for Uber to arrive to take her home.
She’d never go anywhere without her car again.
Jasmine muttered swears in the other room as she scurried to get herself together.
Lily grabbed Mara’s phone and smiled. Sure, she couldn’t save Alegra, she couldn’t keep Mason, but she sure managed to help out one family and that gave her a sense of peace she hadn’t experienced before. Peace beyond the life she had created for herself before this whole thing started.
Maybe it was time to talk to Jasmine, Sage, and Ivy to see about getting together to see if they could help others.
Lily’s stomach pitched.
The phone slipped from her fingers and crashed to the floor.
“Lily!” Jasmine cried, but her voice sounded as though it came through a tunnel.
Mara’s dirt-streaked face flashed before her eyes. Her wild-eyes darted about in the inky night.
She scrambled down a flight of stairs and pushed on an old, wooden door crying out. “Please, somebody, anybody. Help me! Hurry!”
Her nails clawed at the wood handle as she rammed against it over and over.
Old hinges gave way as the door tilted in the frame, leaving an opening at the top and bottom. Mara screamed for help as she continued to push on the wood, making a big enough gap on the bottom to crawl out.
The moon cast a glow on the building in the hill and the tall tombstone just five feet from it.
Lily recognized the stone, had walked in the cemetery time and time again. A large man crashed through the door behind Mara and she took off at a run.
The vision burst, leaving Lily retching on the floor.
“Lily! What is it?” Jasmine held her head and smoothed her hair.
“The vision I gave Mason was wrong. Mara’s at the River’s Edge Cemetery.” Lily gasped for air as the spasms subsided. “She doesn’t have long. She got away, but he’s chasing her.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. Call Mason. Hurry.” Lily handed Jasmine her cell phone.
“He’s not answering.”
“Try your phone. In case he’s ignoring me.”
Jasmine brought up his contact info. After the incident at her house earlier, he’d insisted they both put it in their phones as a precaution.
“Shit, still no answer.”
“Help me up,” Lily said. She pushed to her feet with Jasmine’s help and steadied her breathing. Her stomach settled into a manageable dull ache.
“You want me to call the police?” Jasmine asked.
“Yes. And while you do, I’m going after her.”
Jasmine grabbed her arm as she headed for the door. “Lily, no!”
“I have to, Jasmine. Have you seen that cemetery? It’s massive. I may have the best shot at finding her there. And in the meantime, I’ll have the peace of mind knowing the police are on their way.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No,” Lily said. “You need to keep trying to get in touch with Mason.”
“You’re right, but I sure as hell can do that from the car while I’m there with you. Don’t fight me on this Lil. I’m going.”
Chapter 11
Mason positioned himself on the north side of the port near Symco Freight off Middle River at the edge of Baltimore. The location was perfect for shipping companies. It offered protection from storms, but flowed into the Atlantic.
Mason was stationed with Garrett on the north side of the port. His brothers, Luca and Talon, had taken the south. Troy gathered a team to cover the east and Rick had done the same for the west.
The four teams, one section at a time, moved in, tightening the perimeter around the Berk trailer Jasper had located. Mason did a quick check around the corner, found it clear, and signaled Garrett to move.
Garrett took the lead and secured the next corner. They moved every sixty seconds, giving each team time to assess the location of the security guards on the lot. They expected six guards. So far they had seen twelve. So either something wasn’t on the up and up, or their intel was wrong.
Their intel was never wrong.
The guards wore police-like uniforms. They fit their bodies just like a police issue uniform would. Tailored, but not tight, the material a deep, dark blue, ironed and crisp.
Mason would bet his life savings three of them were the ones who trashed Lily’s house.
“Man, what’s wrong with you tonight?” Garrett whispered.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re rigid as fuck and you’re going to get us both killed if you don’t fucking unclench, man.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Well, if that were true, you would shake it the fuck off,” Garrett said as he checked the next corner.
A late season thunder storm threatened with random rumblings in the sky. In minutes, the shine of the moon had been obliterated by turbulent clouds. So far the rain had held off, and if it continued to, the thunder would cover the sound of their movements and they could stay dry.
Not that Mason’s luck would allow that. A shit night and a shit mood called for shit weather.
“Does this have something to do with Lily?” Garrett asked.
“Don’t say her fucking name.”
“It’s not like I’m making a play for her,” Garret said.
“It’s not that. I don’t want to hear her name at all.”
Troy and Rich came into view as they closed in on Luca and Talon. Something felt off. Mason couldn’t put his finger on what, but it was far too easy to get past security.
“We’re at the crate. I repeat, we’re at the crate.” Talon’s voice came through their ear pieces.
“Hold your position,” Garrett said. “So what happened?”
“She has details about our sister.”
Garrett’s mouth fell open. “Seriously? What did she say?”
“It’s more what she didn’t say. She didn’t tell me. I found a journal with details. Scattered details.” None of it made sense. None of the information was complete. For all he knew, if he put it with the information they had gathered, it might just get them somewhere. Finally.
And she hadn’t said shit.
“And her explanation?” Garrett asked, guiding them around another corner.
The Berk container came into view. “She said she was nine, so who could she tell?”
Garrett shrugged. “She has a point.”
Mason’s eyes snapped to Garrett. “She lied to me. This whole time. She lied.”
Garrett grabbed his sleeve and turned Mason to him. “This whole time? It’s been barely a weekend, for Christ’s sake. And you guys have been focusing on other things.”
“This is our sister we’re talking about.”
“Yes, and we both know that she’s gone. And as much as we wish it would, an extra couple of days won’t bring her back.”
If she was planning to tell him at all. That was the problem.
Mason signaled to Troy and Rich to move in first. With their guns drawn, they made their way to the container next to the Berk container from Lily’s vision.
“It’s all clear,” Troy said.
“That’s our cue,” Mason said.
Keeping his gun trained straight ahead he let Garrett cover him as he ran to the container. Troy joined him with cutters to cut the locks. Mason scraped at the graffiti paint that had begun peeling from the metal. The container had to have been sitting there for at least a decade. The bottom had rusted in spots, dirt had built up around the edges where it met the concrete, with weeds sprouting up in spots.
Something about how Lily described it made it seem new.
“This is all wrong,” Mason said.
“You don’t think she’s here? Look, if this is about your fight—”
“It’s not about that. Look, just open it up.”
Garret cut through the locks and, with Mason’s help, forced the door open. They only opened it as far as they needed to in order to squeeze in. Their team remained on the ground as back up.
Using flashlights, they lit up the inside of the container and found…nothing. Not one thing. No cot. No bedding.
No Mara.
Mason walked the edges of the container looking for something that might have been left behind. Something that told them they had the right place. A scrap of clothing. A footprint.
Along the last edge something caught his eye. He moved the light at just the right angle and there it was again. Something metal, likely the edge of the container and nothing more.
He walked slowly, never taking his eyes from the shine of the item. About three feet away, his heart started pounding, drowning out the sound of his boots echoing his steps.
He crouched down, fanned away the dirt, and his heart seized.
A horse necklace he hadn’t seen since the day Alegra went missing.
Around her neck.
Lily had a vision all right. But not of Mara.
Of Alegra.
“Garrett,” the name grated from his thick throat.
“You find something?”
Mason had no words and just handed the necklace to his brother.
Garrett gasped and locked eyes with Mason.
“I need to tell her.” Mason pulled out his phone to dial Lily and discovered a heap of missed calls, texts, and voicemails.
He scrolled through…
Mason, Mara’s not there. She’s at River’s Edge Cemetery.
You need to hurry. We’re going there now.
We’re here. Where are you, dammit?
Lily’s trying to find her, but she needs you. Whoever was holding Mara is here, too. Mara escaped.
Police are on their way.
“Son of a bitch,” Mason whispered harshly.
“What?”
“Lily and Jasmine are at River’s Edge. Mara’s there…with her captor.”
“Shit. Let’s go,” Garrett said, hustling out of the container.
***
Lily’s feet hit the ground before the Uber driver had a chance to come to a full stop. She took off to the center of the main one-lane road running through the cemetery. The building in the hill was near the center. She had no other choice but to start there.
She thought about calling out to Mara, but she couldn’t. Not yet. If Mara called back, it would help whoever was holding her find her again.
Lily kept Mara’s phone clutched in her hand, willing the visions to come to her, to guide her to Mara so she could get her the hell out of there.
She found the hill in the center, and the crooked busted door she had seen in her vision. She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing she was on the right track.
That her vision held true.
She laid her hand on the wood where she had seen Mara’s hand in her vision. In her other hand she held the cell phone. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind of everything. She focused on the last place she had seen Mara in her vision.
Nothing came to her, other than a gut feeling that she needed to head toward the memorial garden in the back of the cemetery reserved for local military burials. It was the furthest distance from the road and flagging down help was impossible, but it offered a lot of places to hide with concrete benches, landscaped trees, but also the protection, and danger, of the woods.
Lily made her way, careful to be quick, but to make as little noise as possible. She followed the road, but stayed at the edge where the grass encroached on the gravel, keeping the sound of her shoes as quiet as possible.
The moon disappeared by thundering clouds rolling in, but fortunately, she had always had good eyesight at night. She just needed to give her eyes time to adjust.
She reached the memorial garden and slowed to a stop. Leaning against a tree, she schooled her breathing hoping to hear Mara’s.
The sound of twigs snapping had her turning around right before a pain exploded in her head, and she hit the ground. Bile rose in her throat as she caught herself, digging her fingers in the damp earth and crawling.
“Where do you think you’re going, you meddling bitch?” a man’s voice said.
He yanked her by her hair and pulled her to her feet. She couldn’t make out his features. His raspy voice sounded as though he’d been a three pack a day smoker for at least a couple of decades.
“You’ll never get away with this.” She gasped out the words as blasts of pain shot through her head. The outline of his body waved before her eyes, his body splitting into double and converging again.
She fell to her knees. With no energy to do much of anything, she leaned forward and sunk her teeth into his leg, biting down with every last bit of strength she had.
He smacked her away and she landed with a thud, curled up on her side. Behind him, a set of familiar, terrified eyes appeared out of the darkness. A couple more steps and Mara stood behind him shaking, one of the heavy duty flag poles in her hand.
The handles had to be at least an inch thick, but Lily doubted Mara had the strength to wield one.
Besides, it was Lily’s job to save Mara. Not the other way around.
“Run,” Lily rasped.
“You wish you could run. Too bad it ends for you here. You won’t interfere again. Where did you plan to be buried? Was it here? How efficient it’ll be to end it here for you.”
“Why?”
“Because I can. Because there are people who will pay a lot of money for
a girl like her.”
Mara raised the flag pole and swung with all her might. The wood cracked down on her assailant’s head, only angering him more.
He snatched the pole out of Mara’s hand and smiled that sinister smile, his eyes crazed, a mean tilt to his lips.
“I’ve held onto you for a week without harming you and that’s what I get?” He reached for the snap of his pants. “Well, now I’m going to show you a lesson. I don’t care what my orders are.”
He reached out and sunk his fingers into Mara’s hair. Lily had just reached for him when a gunshot split the air.
Mara screamed.
The guy fell forward on his face, never even trying to catch himself.
“Oh, thank God.” She reached for Mara who shrunk away. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m here to find you. I’m going to take you back to your mom and dad.”
Tears ran down Mara’s cheeks. “Mommy and Daddy?”
“Yes, honey. Mommy and Daddy.”
Mara crawled over and hugged her, holding on impossibly tight. The sound of boots running on the path finally told Lily it was over. She heard her name on Mason’s lips and smiled.
Then everything went completely dark.
Chapter 12
Lily winced at the sound of voices coming into the hospital room. The lingering scent of antiseptic burned her sinuses, but she welcomed it.
She was alive.
She cracked open and eye flinching at the bright light blinded her. “Can someone do something about the light. Head injury over here,” Lily said.
“Oh, listen to her getting sassy. I never thought I’d see the day she’d loosen up her death grip on those southern manners,” Ivy said from next to Lily’s bed.
“Must be all that unsupervised time she spent with Jasmine. We’ll have to keep an eye on those two,” Sage replied.
“You came?” Lily said, tears welling up in her eyes.
“There’s nowhere else we would rather be,” Ivy said, squeezing Lily’s hand.
“Is Mara okay?” Lily asked.
“She’s just fine. They’re going to keep her overnight for observation and to wait for some blood tests, but thanks to you, she’s going to be just fine,” Jasmine said from the foot of Lily’s bed.
