by C. J. Carson
“Really? I mean, that’s fine, but we need to go jogging this morning and I am sure you don’t want to run in your work clothes.”
“That’s okay. I have a duffle bag with me, which just happens to include my gym clothes. Give me five minutes and I will be ready for you here at the desk.”
We got to the lobby, and sure enough, Antonio was there, dressed, and ready to go.
Opening the door, he grinned. “Shall we?”
The three of us headed out and jogged down the block to the park. As soon as we arrived, I challenged them. “Okay, once around at a jog and then once around walking?”
Claudia laughed. “You’re on!”
By the time we were done and headed back home, we felt invigorated. Much to my surprise, Claudia did remarkably well.
As we arrived back at the Summit, Guile had brought Antonio’s car around and left it at the door for us.
“Good morning, Guile, we just need a few minutes to go up to our apartment and gather some things.”
Antonio turned to us. “I’m going to change and I’ll meet you back at the car in fifteen minutes.”
Thirty minutes later, we were pulling up to the dojo. As we got out of the car and started walking to the entrance, Claudia stopped me. “Isn’t that Dakota’s Hummer across the street?”
I was taken by surprise. “It sure looks like it. What’s he doing here?”
Antonio opened the door for us. “I’m sure we’re about to find out.”
As we entered the lobby, Josh and Dakota were there waiting. As they both stepped out from behind the counter, Josh hugged me. “Good morning, right on time!”
“Why are you here, Dakota?”
Before he could answer, Josh spoke up. “Allie, I invited him. I knew we would need a fourth person to have an effective session. As we move through these lessons, I can spar with you, Allie, and Dakota can spar with Claudia.”
Claudia laughed. “So, the cowboy knows Taekwondo? You are certainly full of surprises.”
“I know enough to help you out.”
Josh stepped toward the entrance of the dojo. “Well, no time like the present. Let’s get started.”
We stepped in behind Josh as he explained the game plan for the day’s session.
“We will start with the technique I taught you yesterday. First, Dakota and I will demonstrate and then we will team up and practice with each of you. The reason I wanted Dakota here is that I want you both to have a partner who can make you feel the power that your actual attacker will come at you with. It is one thing for you to practice these techniques at home with each other, and an entirely different thing to have someone bigger and stronger than you to work with. Weight-wise, you will both likely be at a disadvantage and you will need to make that work to your benefit.”
The session that day was far more intense than the day before. Josh and Dakota did not make it easy for us. Although they never once hurt us, they were brutally aggressive.
Halfway through the session, Josh threw me to the matt so quickly and forcefully, it knocked the wind out of me.
Stunned, I lay there on my back for a few seconds. “What the heck was that for?”
“That, my dear, is because I need you to really understand what you may be up against. If you are serious about going on the offense, you need to be prepared. The first thing you need to learn is the techniques, but they need to be instinctive and you need to be on the offense, not just learn defensive moves. Most importantly, you need to know how it feels to be put to the floor and how crucial it is not to stay there for more than a split second. You need to move like an inflated ball and bounce right up to your feet as quickly as you can.”
Claudia came over to me. “Holy crap, Allie, you’re lucky there was a mat to break your fall.”
Dakota looked at Josh. “I think they’re ready.”
Shocked at this comment, Claudia blurted, “Ready for what?”
“To learn techniques that go beyond protecting yourselves and putting your attacker down.”
The rest of the morning we worked on two offensive techniques. The first one was to put our attackers to the floor. The second was to provide us with time to escape by knocking them unconscious.
The morning flew by and suddenly Josh noticed the time. “It’s eleven-thirty, Allie, don’t you have to be at the station by two o’clock this afternoon?”
I was shocked, looking at the clock. “Time flies when you’re having fun. Yes, I think we should call this. I need to get home, have a bite to eat, and shower before going to see Payne later.”
Josh walked us to the door. “I’m sorry to be so hard on you, Allie. Are you all right?”
“Oh, I’m just fine.” I leaned over and whispered in his ear. “I didn’t know you like it so rough.”
I slid my lips across his cheek, brushing them over his. “I think turnabout is fair play!”
His face turned scarlet and, for the first time, he was on the defense.
“You have taught me well, Sensei.”
Chapter 35
WE ARRIVED AT THE STATION AT one forty-five. Payne was just returning from lunch with Carl.
“Good afternoon, Allie. I hope you got a good night’s sleep because I think we are going to have a late night.”
“Why, what’s going on, Payne? Have you received some new information? Has there been a break in the case?”
“Whoa, slow down, Allie! Let’s go upstairs and we will fill you in.”
When we entered the war room, there was another box sitting on the table. I moved over and glared down at it. “Another city?”
“No, not quite.”
“What then, Carl?”
Jake opened the box. “This happened on a reservation in Colorado. There was a young woman in the tribe abducted, kept hostage for two months, and then suddenly released. We haven’t been able to review any of this material yet because it just got here early this morning.”
Payne pulled out his chair and sat down. “Let’s all sit down and Carl and I will bring you up to speed. Last night, after we finished up here, I went with Carl to grab a bite to eat. While we were out, I received a phone call from the station. I was told that there was a detective here that needed to speak to us as soon as possible. We had our meals wrapped up and returned here right away.”
I stood from my chair. “Why didn’t you call us? Who was this so-called detective?”
“It was me.” The voice came from the doorway behind me.
I turned to find the woman approaching me from the door. She extended her hand. “Let’s start again, shall we? My name is Hayln. I learned about what was going on here and came as soon as I could. I think you’re all searching for the same man that we have been after for about ten years.”
She no sooner got the words out before a second woman entered the room. Everyone reacted with the same stunned expression.
I moved over and stood directly in front of her. To say she bore a striking resemblance to me would be putting it lightly. She was not identical to me, but damn close. It was almost like looking in a mirror. We stood there with our eyes glued to each other for what seemed like an eternity.
She smiled and broke the spell. “You must be Allie.”
Everyone in the room seemed to breathe at once.
“Yes, I am, and you?”
“My name is Kaiah. It is so amazing, but certainly strange at the same time, to meet you.”
Payne interrupted. “Please, everyone, come over and take a seat. We have a lot to discuss, and I believe we are in for a long afternoon and evening. Before we begin, I would like to say that I took the liberty to order us something to eat and it will be delivered about five-thirty.
“If you don’t mind, Hayln, I would like to start by having you tell the group what has brought you here and why the case we are working on drew your interest.”
She looked around the table. “That’s fine, I would be happy to. What brought me here was kind of a strange coincidence.”
/> Jake chuckled. “Stick around, strange is the new norm around here.”
Hayln stood and pulled the box on the table closer to her. “In this box are all the files and evidence for a cold case we still have open from ten years ago. It involves a family on the reservation that I live on and work for. It involves Kaiah and her family.”
“She was gracious enough to accompany me here, and you just have to take one look at her to see why she may be connected to the case involving Allie.”
Payne nodded. “The resemblance between the two of them is remarkable.”
“Recently, I was going through our cold case files. When I went into the database to see if there were similar incidents anywhere else in Colorado, it was a dead end. Once I widened the search, I saw similarities in several cases in different cities across the country. The clincher for me was that strange coincidence I was telling you about. I felt like something was about to break in this case, so one night, I took home a lot of files to review.
“When I sat down that evening to watch the news, I saw the report about a woman who had been attacked in her office. I had to rewind the story and look again at the woman on the screen. My first thought was, that’s Kaiah. A few minutes later, they revealed the woman’s name was Allie Callahan. I immediately logged into the database at work, where I found an article in your local paper, the Stanford News. Again, I was stunned by her picture in that piece. That convinced me I should review the other cases I had found to see if they might be linked. When I was confident I could be on to something, I reached out to you right away. Since she is here, I think I would like to have Kaiah pick up the story so you can hear it firsthand.” Looking in her direction, Hayln smiled. “Would you be comfortable doing that?”
“Yes, absolutely. About ten years ago, my life was busy but rich and full of opportunities for a bright future. My parents believed I had the heart and gifts of a healer and always wanted me to follow in my father’s footsteps to become a shaman. Trying to please them, I apprenticed with him from an early age. About twelve years ago, at twenty-three, I summoned up the courage to ask if I might attend the university to study fine arts. My parents asked me what had brought on this change of heart. I remember clearly saying, ‘I have such a great love and respect for the land and all the creatures that walk on it. I have a yearning in my heart to put them to canvas for this generation and all the generations to come. The wild and natural areas in this great nation grow smaller and smaller all the time. I would like the opportunity to show and have the world see what we will be missing if we do not pay attention.’
“My father surprised me and said, ‘Of course, my dear. You must follow the calling of your heart. It seems an important task and you must listen to your inner spirit.’
“I remember breaking down with relief and throwing myself in his arms with tears of joy. So, although I continued to work with him, I registered to start at the university that fall. During my second year of school, I painted a portrait of my father in his native dress. At the end of the school year, there was an art exhibit and my painting hung proudly at the entrance of the show.
“During the exhibit, a gentleman, who was very interested in my piece, approached me. Of course, I was flattered. He wanted to know who the Indian was in the portrait. When I told him the man in the painting was my father, he seemed even more intrigued. Continuing to ask questions, he wanted to know things like, ‘What is his position in your tribe?’ He asked what I wanted for my painting, as he wanted to purchase it. When I told him it was a gift to my father and not for sale, he persisted. ‘Everything has a price, please tell me, what is yours?’ One of the professors overheard our exchange and came over and helped me out of that very awkward situation.
“After that day, I always had an eerie feeling that I was being watched or that someone was following me or lurking around the corner. I tried to tell my parents, but they thought it was the product of my overactive imagination. Which by the way, I have.
“In the fall, I was loading my car and getting ready to return to the university. A limo, with tinted glass, drove up next to me on the street. As the back window rolled down, I recognized the gentleman sitting in the car. It was the man I met at the art exhibit. Before I could think, the driver got out of the limo and came around to lift the last two boxes into my hatchback.
“I remember thanking him, but the gentleman in the back of the limo spoke, attracting my attention, asking me if I was the girl he met during the art exhibit at the university. He even remembered my name.
“It all happened so quickly that I felt distracted and confused. I turned and told him he hadn’t shared his name with me. I remember he responded very politely and said, ‘Oh, please, call me Mak. It’s short for Makya.’
“I thought, An Indian name. No wonder he was so interested in my painting. Before I could ask, I felt a sharp pain in the side of my neck. That was the last thing I remember until I came to in the back of the limo. I remember I knew I should have been scared, but my anger washed away any fear I had. All I wanted to do was physically lash out, but my hands were tie-wrapped, and any struggle made them cut into my wrists. It was then that he blindfolded me and we continued to drive for what seemed like hours.”
Shocked and excited, I turned to Payne. “We have his name! Oh, my God, we have his name!” I got up and kneeled next to Kaiah’s chair. “Then you can describe him. You actually know what he looks like.”
Payne cleared his throat. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Allie. First, we need to confirm that this is indeed the same guy. We still need to connect the cases. It seems strange that he allowed himself to be seen in such a public way. That doesn’t sound like his MO at all.”
I stood up and returned to my seat. “But this was the beginning of his search for me. Given her history, the fact that her father was a medicine man and shaman, he was likely convinced that he had the right woman. After his theory was debunked, he moved on to other cities and had to know that he needed to be far more cautious. Kaiah, I am so sorry, I interrupted your story, please go on.”
“Sure, let’s see… Where was I? I was blindfolded and taken to a large estate. We didn’t reach that location until early evening. As soon as we arrived, Mak took off my blindfold and escorted me into the home, and directly to one of the most elaborate bedrooms I have ever seen, even in magazines.
“It wasn’t until then he spoke to me again. ‘I assure you, Kaiah, you are perfectly safe here and it is not my intention to do you any harm. Please stay in this room for the rest of the evening and I will have something sent up for you to eat. You will find fresh nightclothes in the wardrobe and I will have your things brought up for you later tonight.’
“I was still very confused and angry. What could he possibly want from me? I mean, my painting wasn’t worth kidnapping me for. Strangely, I was still more angry than scared.
“As he was leaving the room, he turned back. ‘There will be a gentleman outside your door this evening. If you need anything, please just let him know and he will make sure to take care of it.’
“I had no intention of changing my clothes. I didn’t think I could fall asleep if I wanted to.
“About an hour later, there was a knock at the door. When I didn’t respond, they knocked again and a voice on the other side said, ‘Excuse me, Ms. Kaiah, I have your dinner.’
“I opened the door to find a small, slender woman with a tray looking back at me. I invited her in. We never really made eye contact as she had a very shy demeanor. With a faint smile, looking down at the floor, she asked me if there was anything else she could do for me.
“I remember saying, ‘No, not unless you can get me a ride back to my car.’
“My comment seemed to unnerve her, and she turned quickly and disappeared through the door without responding.
“As she walked out, a tall gentleman entered the room with some of my things. The driver must have pulled them from my car. He placed them on the chest at the end of the bed. What w
as so striking about him was how he sounded when he spoke. He had the deepest baritone voice I think I have ever heard. All he said was, ‘Hello, Ms., will there be anything else?’ Stunned by the tone of his voice, I just shook my head to say no. He turned and went directly out of the room.
“That was it. I was stuck there, with no connection to the outside world. No cell phone, no computer, not even my Apple watch.
“For the next several days, I was allowed to roam through the house and then eventually the grounds. I was brought down to have meals and Mak was always there at the table for dinner promptly at six. While eating, we spent lots of time just making small talk. When I pressed him to tell me what he wanted from me, he would simply say, ‘I would just like to get to know you.’
“The last dinner I remember clearly. I asked him again, ‘Mak, what do you want from me?’ He became enraged and went from zero to a hundred in two seconds flat. It was the first time I had seen him come unglued. Up to that point, I convinced myself that he was telling the truth and that he wouldn’t harm me. I felt like I was stuck in the story of Beauty and the Beast.
“It became increasingly clear that there was no getting out of there unless Mak wanted me to. I was escorted everywhere I went on the property and there was always someone outside my door at night.
“That’s when things started getting a little fuzzy. I remember the events of my first few weeks in captivity, but after that, it was a blur.”
When she paused, I interjected. “I’m sorry, but before you go on, could you just try to describe what Mak looks like?”
Hayln stood and walked to the box on the table. “We can do better than that. Kaiah sat with a sketch artist and we have a drawing of him in this box.”
Pulling the sketch out, she handed it to Payne. He went directly to the whiteboard and hung it with the other pictures.
Jake turned back to Kaiah. “Please, go on.”
“Okay, but as I said, from there things are a blur. I mean, on some level, I know my routine was the same, but I was always in a fog. I still vaguely remember going through the motions of each day, but the details are gone. The one thing I can remember, or at least I think I remember, is Mak asking me over and over again if I could do anything out of the ordinary. When I didn’t understand what he meant, I would find myself back in my room.”
