by C. J. Carson
“What?”
“When did you and Josh get back from downstairs?”
“Allie, we didn’t go downstairs.”
Panic was setting in. “Yes, he said he was going to get you to accompany him downstairs. He needed to get his checkbook to make a donation tonight.”
“Wait, Allie, there must be an explanation.”
“Have you been here the whole time?”
“I did leave right after midnight to go to the restroom. I don’t think Josh would have left without me, do you?”
“I haven’t seen him for about twenty minutes.”
Charles pulled out his phone and called the front desk. “Antonio, have you seen Josh Sullivan in the last half hour? He hasn’t left the building at all, has he?”
“No, sir, no one has come through the lobby for at least two hours.”
“How about the freight elevator?”
“Just the people from the catering company, but they have been coming and going all evening.”
Charles spotted Jake on the dance floor with Claudia and waved him over. “Jake, can you watch the elevator? It seems Josh left to go downstairs without me and I just want to check on him.”
Jake nodded and posted up at the elevator.
“Allie, I want you to stay here with Jake and Claudia while I go downstairs. I’m sure he’s fine. After all, he is a black belt, right?”
As Charles went down to the apartment, Mom, Guile, and William came over to the elevator. “What’s going on, you two?”
“Mom, Josh is missing.”
Claudia grabbed my arms and spun me around. “Allie, we don’t know that.”
“I do. I can feel it in every inch of my being. Something is wrong! Jake, I need to go downstairs right now.”
“That’s not a good idea. We need to wait for word from Charles.”
“You can stay here if you want, but I’m going down!”
“Wait, let me call Payne and then I promise I will take you down.”
He dialed Payne’s number and put him on speaker. “Hello, Payne, it’s Jake. We may have a problem here.”
“I know, Jake, I just got a call from Charles.”
“Allie wants to go downstairs, and I don’t think she will take no for an answer.”
“I’m in my car and on the way. Stall her as long as you can. She can’t go into that apartment right now. It’s not good.”
As he hung up from Payne, I looked at him. “I heard what he said. What does that mean, ‘it’s not good’?”
“Payne wants us to stay put. He is on his way.”
“No! No way am I waiting here. I’m going!”
Mom grabbed me and pulled me into her. “Allie, honey, Josh would not want you to put yourself in any danger. He would never forgive himself if he was the reason you were hurt.”
In her arms, I collapsed to the floor. “This cannot be happening! Something is terribly wrong. I can feel it. It’s Mak. He said he would come after Josh.”
Dakota saw the commotion at the elevator and rushed over. “Is Allie all right?”
***
Jake grabbed his arm and led him away. “We have a problem. Josh didn’t come back from downstairs when he went to get his checkbook. Charles went down to find him. I put a call into Payne, and he is on his way. All I know is something happened in the apartment, but beyond that, I have no details. Do you think you could stay here with Allie, Claudia, and her mom so I can go down to assist Officer Edwards?”
“Sure thing.”
***
Jake approached everyone at the elevator. “Claudia, I have to go downstairs. Stay here and help Allie’s mom try to keep her calm. Dakota will stay here with you.”
“Please be careful, Jake! I want you back in one piece.”
He walked away without looking back. “I will. I love you, Claudia!”
Chapter 43
AS JAKE GOT DOWNSTAIRS, PAYNE WAS getting off the elevator and Charles was waiting at the apartment door.
“It doesn’t look good, Payne.”
Frustrated, Payne clenched his hands. “Is Josh Sullivan in there?”
“No, but the place is trashed and there is a lot of blood everywhere. It looks like the struggle may have started in one of the bedrooms and then escalated through several other rooms.”
Charles opened the door to the apartment and Jake entered first. Moving from the foyer to the living room, Jake took a deep breath. “Well, it looks like someone put up a good fight.”
Payne followed him in. “They most certainly did.”
Looking out across the room, they saw a large blood smear that trailed across the floor that stopped abruptly in the middle of the room.
Kneeling and looking around, Jake shook his head. “The rug. The oriental rug that was in this room is missing.”
Payne reached out. “Let’s stop right here. I have forensics on the way. They should be here any minute. I want to know just how much of this blood belongs to Josh and if any of it belongs to Mak. Jake, can I see you in the hallway for a minute?”
As they stepped out the door, Payne asked, “How is Allie holding up? I’m concerned about what will happen when she learns what is going on down here.”
“I’m worried, too, Payne. Before I came down here, she was insisting that something was terribly wrong and that she knew Makya was behind it.”
“What do you mean she knew? Did she know, as she thought, it was an obvious conclusion or did she know because she did that thing she does? You know what I mean, does she know because she really knows?”
“I think it is because her intuition or whatever it is that she does, kicked in. Just before I headed down, she became overwhelmed and collapsed.”
As the investigative team came through the door, Payne directed Jake. “Take Charles, go back up to the penthouse, and check on things up there. I don’t want Claudia or Allie down here at all.”
A few minutes later, when the elevator doors opened, Jake and Charles stepped into the penthouse.
Claudia was there waiting and threw herself into Jake’s arms. “Thank God you are all right? Where’s Josh, did you find him?”
“No, not yet. Where are Allie and the rest of the family?”
“Dakota took all of them to one of the bedrooms in the other penthouse. They called an ambulance because Allie collapsed, and they’re in with her now.”
“Good, take me to them. I need to talk to George and Dakota.”
They headed into the other penthouse and when they walked into the room, Allie’s mom rushed over. “Jake, where’s Josh?”
“We haven’t found him yet.”
“What? What do you mean you haven’t found him yet?”
Claudia reached out to her. “Let’s give him a minute. He needs to talk to George, Dakota, and the EMTs.”
Jake stepped away. “George, can you grab Dakota and join me outside this room? I need to speak with you both.” Moving over to the EMTs he asked, “Can I talk to one of you for a few minutes?”
Leading them all out of the room, he turned. “We haven’t been able to locate Josh yet and it doesn’t look good.” He turned to the EMT. “How is Allie doing?”
“We have given Ms. Callahan something to calm her down and we are monitoring her. I would like to transport her to the hospital, but she refuses.”
“Let me talk to her. Now that you have sedated her, do you think it would be all right for me to be honest with her? The news is not good.”
“I think that is the only way we will be able to convince her to let us take her for treatment.”
Jake turned to George and Dakota. “Can I ask the two of you to clear out the room? After I have a chance to talk to Allie and get her on her way with the EMTs, I’ll bring you all up to speed.”
***
When everyone cleared the room, and Jake moved over to talk to me, I couldn’t contain myself another second. Sitting up, I immediately lit into him. “Jake, they want to take me to the hospital, but I can’t leave,
I need to stay to help. You have to be honest with me. Where is Josh? I know something is terribly wrong, I can feel it!”
“Allie, please, listen to me for a minute! You need to calm down and let me talk to you.”
“What? I can’t calm down. I don’t know what the EMTs gave me to help me relax, but I feel numb. I mean, I feel like my body weighs a thousand pounds, but inside I have the sensation that I am going a thousand miles an hour. Jake, where’s Josh? Is he okay? Oh my, God, I need to get out of here. I need to see him!”
Jake gripped my shoulders and looked directly into my eyes. “Allie, you need to stop. I have to talk to you, but after I do, I need you to go with these gentlemen and be checked out.”
“No, not until I see Josh for myself. Is he all right? What has happened to him? Where is he?”
Jake’s voice became very firm. “Do you want me to be honest with you?”
“Of course, I do!”
“Then I need you to take a deep breath and stop for one second. This is not like you at all. If you want me to be completely honest then I need you to calm down. Do you think you can do that?
“Yes, I’m sorry. I think whatever they gave me seems to be having a very strange effect on me, but for God’s sake! Where is Josh?”
“The truth is, we don’t know yet.”
Slowing my breathing, I stopped for a moment. “I want the whole truth, Jake. What aren’t you telling me? I can feel it. You know a lot more than you’re saying!”
“You’re right. The painful truth, Allie, is that when Charles went down to find Josh, he was not in the apartment. There were signs of a struggle. It looked like Josh put up a great fight, but he wasn’t there.”
“What do you mean he wasn’t there?”
“Allie, we don’t know all the details yet. Payne is downstairs with an investigative team. Let’s give them time to do their job. Now, a deal is a deal, and you need to go to the hospital and get examined.”
As the EMTs put me on the gurney and began wheeling me out, I reached for Mom. “They don’t know where Josh is!”
“Look, honey, you just go to the hospital. I’ll be right behind you. They’re going to figure this out!”
“No, Mom, they need me here. They can’t figure it out without me!”
“Allie, I promise, I will be right behind you. If you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be of any use to anyone, much less Josh. He would want you to take care of yourself!”
I was sobbing. “Mom, I can’t believe this is happening. Mak said he was going to hurt Josh, and now he has.”
“We don’t know that, honey!”
“Yes, I know, Mom. I can feel it.”
An EMT stepped up to the gurney. “Allie, I am going to give you something more to relax,” he said, giving me an injection.
“No, nothing more to—”
***
Once they had Allie on her way, Jake asked everyone to join him back in the bedroom. In a full-blown panic, Allie’s mother approached him. “For God’s sake, what is going on?”
“I’ll tell you what I know, which isn’t much, but certainly enough to make us all really concerned. When Charles went downstairs, Allie’s apartment door was wide open. Entering, he cleared each room, but as he did, he found that the entire place was tossed. Josh was nowhere to be found, but there was some blood.”
“What do you mean, ‘some blood’? Like how much blood?”
“Enough to tell us that Josh put up a good fight.”
She sank, sitting on the bed, and Josh’s father stepped forward. “How can he be missing? Do they think he went after this guy Makya?”
“I’m sorry, William, we don’t have those answers yet.”
George turned to Jake. “How much of this did you tell Allie?”
“I told her that we haven’t been able to locate Josh yet and there was a struggle, but I didn’t tell her about the blood. I am going to head back down to the apartment to see if I can be of assistance. Charles, I am sure Allie’s mother, Claudia, and George would like to go to the hospital to be with her. Please accompany them there and stay with them until your relief comes to take the day shift.”
Dakota stepped over to Jake and William. “I would love to help, but I have a few lingering guests.”
“You need to stay with them. I’m sure Payne will let you know if there is anything he needs from you.”
“William, do you think you can stay here with Dakota in case they need you?”
“Of course, I am not going anywhere until I know what happened to my son.”
Jake started to leave the room. Hesitating, he turned back around. “Dakota, where is the box?”
“It’s in the safe room. Allie brought it up a few days after the incident with that little girl Jennie.”
“Good, at least that is one thing we don’t have to worry about.”
***
When the group arrived at the hospital, they weren’t able to see Allie right away. Doctor Kennedy entered the waiting room.
“Good evening, everyone. I wanted to come out personally and give you an update on Allie. When she came in, she was still in shock. We’re monitoring Allie and giving her fluids to stabilize her. She needs to get as much rest as possible, so I’m going to admit her and move her upstairs.” He turned to Christina. “You’re Allie’s mother, right?”
“Yes.”
“If you would like to wait, I’ll send for you when she is settled into her room and you can go up to sit with her until she wakes up. I would caution you to let her sleep as long as possible.”
“Thank you, Doctor Kennedy.”
“No problem. This girl has had more than her share of trauma in the past several months. She is one amazing woman. I am truly sorry for all you and your family have had to endure.”
Chapter 44
IT HAD BEEN A FEW MONTHS since I had felt the safety of Josh’s arms around me. I didn’t think I could love someone so deeply in such a short time. What was I to do with all these feelings? Payne said not to give up on him, but when his watch and some of his things washed to shore from the ocean, I gave up all hope. I didn’t feel his death or him living; there was just an emptiness. I couldn’t feel him at all, only the numbness in my heart where his love used to be.
No one had heard a word from Mak and as time went on, Payne grew increasingly concerned. We knew he was out there somewhere and would strike again, but when? It appeared he had learned the importance of patience during the hunt as well. George offered for me to spend the weekend at his farm.
After a long relaxing weekend, I spent most of the last day just sitting in the shade of my favorite apple tree, reading, and relaxing. Just before dusk, as I started to doze, the wind picked up and the clouds rolled in. I opened my eyes and peered up from my chair to find the young girl in the hospital gown standing over me. She pointed toward the field behind a gate that had swung open and, for the first time, she spoke aloud. “It’s time.”
“Time? Time for what? Please tell me who you are and what you want from me. I don’t understand any of this.”
With a gentle and calming smile, she folded her hands in front of her. You know me. You don’t remember me, but trust me, you know me.”
“I’m sorry, but I think somehow you have mistaken me for someone else.”
She reached out and placed her hand in front of my eyes. “I am here to help you. You don’t recognize me because the circumstances of your life have covered your eyes to the truth. I am you in your youth. I have traveled here to help you remember your gifts. You need to be reminded because of the important role they play in the life you are living now.
“I am telling you that it is time to get up, embrace your gifts, and get past this dark place in your life. Only then can you come out into the light again and walk your path. Do you want to stay stuck? Nothing good can come of that. Not for you, not for your friends, and certainly not for Josh!”
I couldn’t speak. As she took her hand from my face, she point
ed to the field again. A horse galloped out of the woods, across the field, and through the open gate.
“This is your mount and he has been with you in many lifetimes. He plays a significant role in your many existences. He takes you where you need to go safely and shields you from impending dangers. Please let him carry you today as this is a door-opening opportunity for you. One you have missed in the past.”
With that, she offered a lift to his back. As I climbed up, I looked back. “I still don’t understand?”
“The knowledge will come. You have an ancestor to visit.”
I turned toward the gate to see a thick layer of fog had formed. She placed her hand on my leg. “This is a thin veil you must travel through. I have brought you here to help you understand your gift for moving between dimensions. A gift you haven’t remembered since you were very small.”
Reaching up, she gave the horse a tap on his haunches. We trotted off across the field, through that veil of fog, and into the forest. I wasn’t traveling long when darkness settled over the woods and the air became chilled and damp. I stopped at a brook to give my horse a quick break and a cool drink.
As I reached down to rake my fingers through his mane, I saw a campfire in the distance. I lifted his head from the stream and steered him in that direction. As we moved closer, a heavyset elderly woman, with long dark braids, was sitting at and stoking the fire. She was clad in a dress that was made of brown suede and was wrapped in an animal skin blanket, shielding her from the cold.
I didn’t recognize her, but somehow, she was oddly familiar to me. Without speaking a word, she reached out to beckon me. I could feel a connection and I was drawn in as I slid down from my horse and joined her. She opened the blanket and, as I sat down, she held me in her arms to warm me by the fire. I was suddenly in my youth again and was swept up in warmth and safety I hadn’t felt for a very long time.
There was that smell I recognized from the dojo. It was the smell of sage burning, but this time I recognized it. I remembered my grandfather would burn it before a healing ceremony. He told me once, a long time ago, that it could cleanse the air and energy around us.
