Her footsteps quickened, and her hand extended to reach for the handle of her car, and she would have sworn the earth spun at a dizzying speed for several seconds. When it stopped, he was standing in front of her, blocking her path. Her footsteps skidded to a stop.
It was the man from her visions. He was tall and so attractive that he took her breath away. She was hesitant to get any closer for fear he would vanish. He looked solid and real, but her rational mind told her he couldn’t have been there in the flesh. She understood what was happening. She was having a vision.
In the light of day, she saw that he’d been dressed in a well-tailored suit that molded perfectly to accentuate his muscular physique. His eyes were dark and expressive and seemed to look right at her. His lips were full, and his skin was a smooth warm brown. True to her vision, he was handsome but had a peculiar expression on his face as he stared at her. He looked perplexed and wondering if he was really seeing her. She watched his lips move, but no sound came out. She tried to understand what he was saying but couldn’t. She could feel his anxiety and distress as he stared in her direction. Surely, he couldn’t see her…no one had ever seen her while she was in a trance.
Taking a few tentative steps closer, hoping he wouldn’t disappear, she held out her hand to him as if to alleviate his anxiety. His eyes moved down to her chest, and at first, surprised at his boldness, she then realized he was staring at the crystal nestled against her skin. He reached out as if to touch her, but he stumbled. The once-pristine white dress shirt she had admired was saturated with blood. She stared in horror, and as he began to slowly fade away into the shadows, she heard his voice seconds before he faded into an abyss of opaque light.
“Help me, please,” he’d whispered in a voice that seemed hoarse by his injuries.
Then he was gone, and with a snap, Valerie was no longer in a trance. She hurried to get inside her car, and not because she was frightened. No, she was freezing cold. Once she settled in her car, the man’s plea resounded in her head as she tried to understand what happened. He was a real soul and he was in trouble, somewhere. Digging her keys out of her pocket, she realized she was still holding onto the brown leaf with the yellow tip. It had survived her encounter, so she quickly pulled her day planner out of her work satchel and placed the leaf between two blank pages.
***
Dante
Dante Colter paused and glanced at his wife Elaine sitting at the dining room table, while his youngest brother Theo lounged at the table across from her. The beveled glass double doors to the dining room had been closed for their private conversation. “Theo, do you know anything more about Cade’s disappearance that for whatever reason you haven’t told us or the police about?”
“Look, Dante, I understand that we’re all worried about Cade, but for the millionth time, I don’t know where he is. Trust me. I’m worried, too. You know I was joking around when I’d said he was probably tied up with some sweet babe, right?”
“Yes, but you stayed at his condo, Theo. What was that about?” Elaine asked.
“So yeah, I did that. I was just kicking back. I saw he had some papers and tickets laid out about some political gig.” Theo sank lower in the seat. “Honest, bro.”
“What was that about again? Cade’s not a fan of Congressman Owen or any other politician, for that matter,” Dante replied.
“As I’ve repeatedly told you and the cops, I don’t know what that was about. Maybe Cade wanted to help the man in his re-election, you know or…” Theo sent Dante a cocky grin. “Dude, have you seen Congressman Owen’s young wife? She’s all kinds of sexy and—” Theo snapped his mouth shut when his sister-in-law Elaine set her teacup onto the saucer with a clink. “Oh, um, sorry, Elaine. No offense,” he said lamely. “I just meant, well, you know how Cade can set his eyes on a pretty woman and then, bam.” Theo smacked the table with the palm of his hand.
“So you still think he’s in never-never land with a woman, huh?” Dante threw up his hands in frustration. “Why do I even bother talking to you, Theo? You’re such a jerk in the face of your brother’s disappearance and possible…” Dante refused to say death. He wouldn’t think that way regardless of the amount of time that had passed since Cade disappeared.
“Look, I get it, bro. You’re worried about our prodigal bro, and so am I, but we both know Cade has played this disappearing act before. Hey, remember the time he went to that electronics convention in Houston? He ended up being chased down by the woman’s ex-boyfriend when the dude came back trying to make up with his woman.” Theo’s voice trailed off when Dante snarled.
“I called you and asked these same questions again because you and Cade had a habit of keeping your little shit secrets, Theo.”
“Ahh, no man, we don’t keep secrets. We just don’t tell you jack because you go rat us out to Mom and Dad like we’re kids or something,” Theo snapped defensively.
Elaine interjected. “I think it’s time to call the police again and get an update since the missing person’s report has been filed. If he’d had a choice, Cade wouldn’t let the family worry like this,” she said calmly, thus putting an end to the brother’s argument.
Theo pushed the chair back and stood up. “Go right ahead and call ‘em, but I’m telling y’all, Cade is out there doing the lateral hustle, and trust me, the last thing he’s gonna want is to have the cops come banging on the door, ‘cause that can get really ugly, really fast. Y’all feel me?”
With a swagger in his step that made his shoulder-length braids sway, Theo got up and walked over to the sidebar and poured himself a glass of orange juice.
Dante sat beside his wife and waited for Theo to return to the table. “You do realize that it doesn’t work in your favor to speculate, don’t you, bro?”
Theo gulped a mouthful of juice. “Say what?”
“Well, until Cade returns from ‘doing the lateral hustle,’ I’ve been tasked with getting coverage for his assignments. The two students Cade had been interning, Alex and Davis, have returned to their schools,” Dante said, tapping the manila folder lying on the table. “Now, as good as they’ve been at providing technical computer support and installation, they need to finish their studies and get their degrees. I hope to be able to hire them when they graduate.”
“Yeah and…” Theo replied, wearily.
“So, with that said, I’m assigning you Cade’s work schedule. Now, he has four appointments on the books for today, and I’ll email the particulars to your cell.”
Theo shot upright. “That’s a big no, Dante. Nobody ever covers my assignments. Uh-uh. I ain’t doing it, bro.”
“I’ve had the other technicians, Steve and Melanie, covering Cade’s regular assignments up until now, and I’ve covered three of them myself. But Steve is off this week, and Melanie is tied up on the installation at the two downtown firms. So, Theo, you either cover Cade’s assignments or, as your boss, you’re fired,” Dante said and let it sink in that he wasn’t about to give Theo any slack. “Oh, and the last assignment is in Northeast DC, at the Royal Baptist Church. I would encourage you to be nice, Theo. They have a full choir rehearsal starting at three o’clock this afternoon. You’ll be there for about three to four hours and you’d better curtail that mouth of yours. In fact, don’t talk unless you’re asked a specific question related to those upgrades.”
“How many of Cade’s assignments are you talking about?” Theo grumbled.
“A lot. I didn’t know he had so many. Anyway, you’ll get a full commission on Cade’s assignments,” Dante said, watching Theo’s shoulders drop.
“Whoop de do,” Theo said and then snorted.
“By the way, I’ll tell Mom and Dad you’ll going to grab a sandwich down at the church with the choir. Too bad, though. Mom’s fixing spaghetti and meatballs tonight, and you’re on the clock starting now. Theo, go to the office, grab the equipment you’ll need, and stock up a van.” Dante took a sip of orange juice as he watched Theo get up and stomp over to the bevel
ed doors and yank them opened. “Ah, bro, I’m warning you, don’t let those nice folks down at that church call me and complain about your behavior, because if that happens, your commission will be filling their collection plate on Sunday.” Dante spoke to Theo’s back, and he wasn’t surprised when Theo simply walked through the door, slamming it behind him without comment.
“I feel like knocking him into next week,” Dante murmured.
“Get in line.” Elaine pursed her lips as Dante flipped open a folder. “Did you find anything after searching through Cade’s work orders?”
“No, just that note I turned over to the police about something happening at eight o’clock at the Sullivan Hotel. I’m still wondering what the footnote on a work order meant. It just had ‘Owen—3’ written down.”
“Don’t be too hard on Theo. He’s worried about Cade too.”
Dante nodded sadly, but he was still pondering the footnote Cade had written on the work order because he had a bad feeling about it.
Chapter Seven
Valerie
It had been three days since Valerie had driven out to that stretch of road. Visions had never stayed in her conscious mind so long before, but this one was different, and the more she thought on it, the more it gnawed at her. She tried to stay occupied reworking the education grants, but whatever occurred on that road kept returning to her as something she couldn’t wrap her mind around.
Another concern was the man himself. She couldn’t escape him because he was always in her head, and she could easily conjure him up simply by going to sleep. Problem was, with her stressing over work and finishing the dining room renovations, sleep was hard to come by.
Arriving home with the thick folder containing the applications she intended to work on, Valerie slipped off her pumps, collapsed onto the sofa, and plopped the folder onto the coffee table. She was too tired to think about fixing dinner, so she called her parents to check in. She chatted with her mother and brought her up to date on the renovations of the house and turned down her parents’ offer to help. She was thankful that she didn’t have a mortgage because the house was paid for. Even so, she did have bills and still had to pay for the renovations.
Ending the call, Valerie pushed herself up from the sofa when hunger pains sent her to the kitchen for something to eat. She still marveled at how bright and airy the kitchen was. At four o’clock in the afternoon, the sun streaming through the new windows heated the tile flooring.
Returning to the living room a short while later, carrying a plate containing a ham and cheese sandwich, a handful of gingersnaps, and a large glass of milk, something on the floor caught her eye. Nearing the sofa, she realized it was one of her earrings. Scooping it up and then twirling the earring in her hand, she wondered why she still wore them. They’d been a gift from Ben, her ex-boyfriend. Gazing at the earring, she could honestly say she missed Ben’s companionship, and that was pretty much all she missed about him.
She had no reason to be bitter over her breakup with Ben. It was two months ago, and it was her fault. When he’d given her the small, velvet black box during dinner at a restaurant, she’d been positive he was going to propose to her. She was excited and nervous all day from the time he’d called saying he’d planned a romantic dinner for them. In hindsight, she wished she hadn’t told everybody about it.
Thinking about it now, all that she could remember of that night was the smile she’d kept plastered on her face, despite the lump in her throat and the heavy pit of disappointment laying in the bottom her stomach. She’d struggled to remain composed as they dined on her favorite seafood pasta dinner and wine. “I should have left right then,” she said before plopping a whole gingersnap cookie into her mouth and crunching it.
The problem was two-fold. The little black velvet box hadn’t contained the engagement ring that she’d been hoping for. At the same time, she realized Ben didn’t want a wife. He wanted a trophy girlfriend to have sex with and to stroke his ego. She’d even wondered why her extra sensitive senses had taken a back seat because she hadn’t seen that rejection coming. She’d been completely blindsided when she’d opened the little black velvet box and discovered a pair of earrings inside.
Now, removing the other earring from her earlobe, Valerie decided she wouldn’t wear them again, at least not until she got over the feeling of utter humiliation. The worse part came the following day when her home, office, and cell phone lines rang off the hook. Everybody wanted to know the wedding date and were full of questions when she’d told them that she’d decided to break things off with Ben.
Balancing her dinner plate in one hand and the earrings in a tight fist, Valerie climbed the stairs to her bedroom. She walked across the carpeted floor, opened her jewelry box sitting on the dresser, and tossed the earrings inside.
When Aunt Ruby’s crystal gleamed up at her, Valerie held the ribbon up and watched the crystal spin slightly, and her mood instantly lifted. She decided to take a brief nap before tackling the work she’d brought home or begin installing chair railings in the dining room.
At five o’clock in the evening, she was in bed. Valerie was sure her aunt would have shooed her off of it, telling her to get her lazy bones up and do something productive.
Lifting the satin ribbon around her neck and snuggling against her pillow, her eyes closed, and as always, she welcomed the relaxation that came over her when wearing the crystal. It didn’t take long before she drifted into a trance.
She found herself walking along the water’s edge where ripples of cold water sloshed against her feet. She was getting her bearings as she walked forward, allowing the vision to unfold.
Still yourself, girl. She heard her aunt’s voice in her head, so she did.
Valerie stopped moving, and abruptly everything changed.
She was no longer at the water’s edge…she was then standing in a room. It appeared to be a large hotel suite with the grandeur that someone powerful would occupy. The room was tastefully decorated and spacious. She saw an opened door and realized that was the bedroom. She was about to go look inside when a stranger appeared.
It was the handsome but troubled man.
She watched him as he walked across the room to the desk and began typing on the keyboard of the laptop computer. Then he went to another laptop, and then another. Moving in closer to see what he was doing, Valerie stood to his right and watched as his fingers flew across each of the three keyboards. When she glanced at the computer, she saw a green bar increasing in size as it moved across the monitor. That’s when she realized it was a progression bar swiftly filling up on the screen. He seemed to be downloading files.
“What are you doing?” she asked quietly and not expecting him to answer, but to her surprise, his hands stilled over the keyboard and he turned his head in her direction. His eyes ran over her face and moved downward, stopping to rest on the crystal around her neck. When he stood up and took several tentative steps, stopping inches from her, Valerie backed up. He still hadn’t spoken, and she hadn’t expected him to. After all, no one could see her when she was in a trance. But this man saw something, only she didn’t know what that was.
“You’ve come to me several times, but I’m not sure why or how I can help you,” Valerie said, but he suddenly stepped back and drew a forefinger along his squared jawline, as if pondering his next move.
***
Dr. Porter
The patient named John Doe No. 6 hadn’t shown any more signs that he may have been coming out of his comatose state. The treating physician, Dr. Porter at the Bryland Sanitarium, was having his weekly team meeting and looking over his notes when he flipped back to the admission papers of this John Doe No. 6. Of what he knew from the hospital E.R. records, John Doe No. 6 had somehow ended up on a trash barge. Shot and suffering from hypothermia, he was barely alive when he was rescued by the operators of the trash barge. They’d happened to see him when they were inspecting their load. At first, they thought he was dead but quickly realized h
e was alive and needed immediate medical care. He didn’t have a wallet or ID, so he became John Doe No. 6.
Since the trash barge had traveled from the Gulf of Louisiana to the coast of Florida and continued up the eastern coastline, making stops to pick up tons of trash until it reached Maine, it was anybody’s guess when or where he was picked up from.
John Doe No. 6 had no tattoos, birthmarks, or scars except the surgical scars to repair his wounds and internal organs ravaged by a large caliber bullet that had ripped through his chest.
A gunshot victim left for dead, Dr. Porter suspected the obvious. This John Doe had been a victim of foul play. Before the patient was transferred to Bryland Sanitarium, he’d been in a hospital in Portland, Maine, in intensive care. While there, his picture was sent to local police departments along the East and Gulf Coasts. But after three months, there still hadn’t been any positive responses. Therefore, John Doe No. 6’s identity remained a mystery.
This particular John Doe stumped Dr. Porter. Sometimes comatose patients sent to Bryland Sanitarium recovered. Some even regained partial memory with the support of family and therapy. But John Doe No. 6 appeared to be completely alone in the world. That thought brought Dr. Porter back to how and why the man ended up shot in the back. One thing for sure was that John Doe No. 6 was meant to be dead.
Critically wounded, the young man suffered a collapsed lung and had massive blood loss and infection so severe his condition had been listed as grave. It was miraculous after massive antibiotics and continuous care that he had pulled through. Unfortunately, he remained comatose, and that’s why the hospital had transferred him to the sanitarium, where he had remained for three months.
Finding Cade (Dream Catcher Series Book 1) Page 6
