Book of Days: A Novel (6 page)

"I'm sorry."

"I went to my fifteen-year reunion a few weeks ago and didn't remember people."

"I'm going to mine next year. I'm sure I'll forget people too. You hadn't seen some of them in fifteen years."

"I didn't remember a girlfriend I had for a year, a guy I played in a band with for two years."

"You had no memory of them the whole time?"

"No, I mean, yeah I did . . . but it took a while each time for the memories to kick in. It's like it was locked up somewhere in my mind. I stared at this person, knowing I should remember them and just couldn't."

"And now you're thinking you're going to go down your dad's path?"

"Yeah, but there's more. At the same time he told me my mind would start going, he said I had to find a book with all the days in it. That he saw this book when he was a kid. That when I found it, everything would make sense; everything would be all right."

Ann didn't respond.

Great. He needed video conferencing on his phone. Was she surprised? Amused? "Are you there?"

"You're saying he was coherent when he laid all this
Twilight Zone
stuff on you?"

"He was clear, Ann. It was only for a few moments, but he was all there."

"It's been eight years since you had that conversation with him. Is there any chance time has tainted your memory of it? Given what you've, uh, been going through lately?"

Maybe. It was a fair question. But Cameron knew what his dad had said.

"No, I remember." He kicked at a rock, then said, "Here's where it gets a little bizarre. Jessie said the same thing on the day she died. She said I had to find a book, and if I did, it would be okay." Cameron swallowed hard. "What if they were talking about the same book?"

"Jessie was on the verge of dying; the mind can come up with fantastical things in those moments."

"But they both came up with the same story." Cameron shuffled back to his tent and sat next to it. "Jessie also said her stone was one of the keys to finding the book."

Again, Ann didn't answer.

"Did Jessie ever talk to you about a book or her stone?"

"What does all this have to do with me, Cameron?"

"I have to find the book. For my dad, for Jessie, for myself."

"But why are you calling me about it?"

"I need someone who knew Jessie to help me. Who might know something more about her story."

"I don't think I'm the person you're looking for."

"You know you are. Who else can I trust?" He scratched at the dirt with his forefinger. "Who else do I know who has a background in investigative reporting?"

The silence lasted more than thirty seconds.

Ann sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

The next morning his cell phone shattered the silence. Who was calling this early? He fumbled through his pack to find his phone. Ann. Cameron unzipped his tent and glanced outside. Not a hint of dawn. He might be able to get back to sleep.

He slid his Bluetooth over his ear. "Why are you calling me at this hour?"

"I thought you wanted answers."

"It's four forty-five, Ann."

"My foster dad always said, 'Never any point in burning daylight.'"

"It's not light," Cameron muttered.

"Do you want to know what I've discovered or not?"

He blinked and shook his head to wake up. "I want to know."

"Your dad said he found this thing when he was a kid?"

"Yes."

"Did he ever talk with you about his childhood? His early childhood when he lived in Central Oregon, in a town called Three Peaks?"

"No, I knew he grew up in Oregon . . . and I remembered him saying it was a strange time for him, but I didn't remember where. Where is Three Peaks?"

"I just told you, Central Oregon."

"Hey, I'm still waking up." Cameron crawled out of his tent and sat cross-legged.

"How long did he live there?"

"Till he was nine. What does this have to do with—?"

"Remember what he said to you?"

"About?" He scratched the back of his head.

"Wake up, Cameron. You need to be on point for this. Your dad said he saw this book thing as a kid."

"Yeah."

"I got up early and dug through the Internet, grabbing everything I could find on Three Peaks, which wasn't a lot. But I did find one item worth mentioning."

"What?" Cameron massaged his feet and slipped on his shoes.

"Have you ever heard of Future Current?"

"No, should I?"

"Probably not. It's not that well known outside of New Age circles. But in that subculture it's pretty well known. Their whole focus is unlocking memories from the past as well as trying to look into the future. Know it, tap into it, control it, use it to shape future events. And their headquarters are in—"

"Three Peaks, Oregon."

"Yep. For them to choose to locate in a town of only seventeen-hundred people . . . seems like a pretty interesting coincidence. Why there, you know what I mean?"

Cameron started breaking down his tent.

"So what's next?" Ann asked.

"When can you meet me in Three Peaks?"

She sighed through the phone. "Sorry, Cameron. Why don't you check it out and call me if you need help once you get there."

"Ann? Please?"

"I'll think about it."

"Ann, I really—"

"I said I'll think about it."

The line went dead.

He didn't need her to think about it; he needed her to come. Cameron dug his fingers into his knotted shoulder and stared at the horizon, now a lighter gray streaked with hints of gold.

I have to find the book, huh, Dad? That will bring my Jessie memories back and keep them intact for the rest of my days? Will it keep me from losing any more of my mind?
He rubbed his brow as the cords in his neck tightened.
I can't afford to lose my brain, Dad.

Cameron finished breaking down his camp and glanced at his watch. He could be back to Seattle and packed for a trip to Three Peaks by early afternoon.

As he stuffed his tent into his pack, Jessie's stone around his neck fell out of his shirt. He dropped his pack and held the stone, staring at the markings on its surface.

This was the key?

All right, Jessie, if the wild goose is running, I'm ready to go on a chase.

All he needed to do on Monday morning was convince Brandon he could handle an extra fifty hours for the next couple of weeks.

Piece of cake.

Yeah, right.

CHAPTER 4

Cameron sat in his office on Monday morning, chewing espresso beans and getting more irritated by the second. Brandon and he played tug-of-war over his going to Three Peaks, and Cameron was getting tired of the rope burns.

"You can't go now, bud, we've got five jobs on the front burner. They're jumping off the stove, they're so hot. I'm supposed to shoot, edit, write, and do the voice work all by myself? Oh, that's right, I forgot, I don't do voice work. And I can't animate like you can. But other than that, sure, count me in for a 120-hour week. Sign me up, lock and load, make it happin' captain." Brandon did a bad version of The Twist.

"Stop."

"Huh, what? Say again. One more time?"

"Stop talking. Now. You're not funny and your dancing makes you look like you've got the dry heaves."

"That's your big comeback for why you have to go?"

"I have to do this, Brandon."

"Listen, sarcasm aside, I get it. Great. Go. That's why we started this biz. Have the freedom to get out of here and go without checking with some corporate suit. But hello, uh, not when we're in the heart of the game. Two months, then you're outta here for three weeks. Four. Six. Whatever."

"I need to go now."

"Okay, okay, I'm with you. Just give me a good reason why, and I'm on the team."

"I think I'm . . ." Cameron stopped himself. Right. As if he could tell Brandon he was losing his mind. And his dad's whacko last words and a recent recollection of Jessie's accident were about to send him on an insane goose chase to find some book that would restore his memories, cure his mind, and maybe answer ninety-nine of the other one-hundred questions of life.

"I can't tell you."

Brandon slouched back in his chair and locked his fingers behind his head. "Oh, great. Let me guess. It's some weird trek, like the time you were convinced Bigfoot had visited your campsite up near Tumwater Canyon and you needed to hang out up in the pine trees for three days trying to get his picture."

"I was seventeen when I did that. I was a little more impressionable in those days."

"So you don't believe in Bigfoot anymore?"

"No, I've shifted my focus to something fully based in reality—the Loch Ness Monster."

Brandon laughed and slumped back in his chair. "It's hard to stay ticked off at you, even when you're being an idiot."

Cameron smiled. "Thanks, I think."

"So why can't you tell me what's going on?"

"Three Peaks is where my dad grew up till he was nine. Something he said to me might be a clue as to why he died so young. I need to check it out."

"You're killing me, Cam."

"I have to go now."

"You already said that." Brandon sighed and pulled up a calendar on his computer. "How long?"

"A week, maybe two."

"This be July 19." Brandon pointed to the date on his computer monitor and then moved his finger down two weeks. "This be August 2. You gotta be back at de veddy, veddy latest by that date, cool?"

"It'll probably be sooner than that. I just want to see if there's anything of my dad's history there that will explain how Jessie and he ended up talking about the same . . ."

"How Jessie and he ended up talking about the same what?"

Cameron dug the nail of his forefinger into his thumb. He needed to be careful. He wasn't ready to tell Brandon what was going on. He had hardly come to terms with it himself. "I need some space on this one. Okay?"

"You got it. No worries."

No worries? Right. They were the only thing filling his mind.