Abithica (34 page)

“Are you going to California, too?”

“No, but I am going right past it,” I said.

She started to cry again, then stopped. “You know how to keep all the planes safe, don’t you?”

“Come along, Ginnie, that’s enough. Let’s leave this nice lady alone.” Mommy took her daughter’s hand, but the girl resisted.

“That’s your job, right, to keep us safe?”

Both parents were now pulling the girl away from me. “Sorry about that,” Mommy said. “She has a heck of an imagination.”

“Flight 747,” the girl yelled. “Concentrate on Flight 747!”

“No, dear,” I heard Daddy say as they moved toward the ticket counter. “That’s not the flight number; it’s the type of plane.”

Talk about being unnerved! I’d switched into another person’s body, and
still
small children sensed something weird about me. Nothing had changed. Once I had my boarding pass, I spent the rest of my waiting time in the women’s restroom, third stall from the end, where I could still hear announcements through the ceiling. Two and a half hours! I studied women’s shoes by looking out under the door as their owners walked by, then trying to catch the same women as they stood before the mirrors. I could see just a tiny slice by peeking past the door edge, but Faith would have been proud. I was doing my own little study to see if shoes matched personalities. The results weren’t very good, but at least it was something to do. I should have bought something to read, but of course I didn’t think of that until I’d already been in there an hour or so.

“Final boarding for Flight 2114. Doors at gate eighteen will close in five minutes.” Finally I heard what I was waiting for. I wasn’t that far away from the gate, but I bolted for it anyway. On impulse, I stopped long enough to buy a magazine I could hide behind on the plane. It was
Women’s Health,
which didn’t interest me at all, but then I wasn’t planning to read it. It was a stage prop, nothing more. I might need it if I ended up sitting next to someone’s child.

Being the last passenger to board really sucked. I should have known that, too, just as I should have known not to hang around that family with the twins. The flight was full and my seat was in the back of the plane. Why had I waited so long? Almost every head looked up to watch me pass, and I was
really
slouching by the time I crawled over two laps and plopped into my window seat. Not all my decisions were turning out bad, though. I used my magazine prop right away, pretending to be thoroughly engrossed in every article. Every once in awhile I turned a page so my seatmate—a man as it turned out—wouldn’t think I was a nutter. It worked. He never said a word the entire time.

The Williams’ Residence

Raphael stared down at his list. Without a doubt, this final name would be his pay dirt. Dr. Marge Williams! The other hospital types had been unusually evasive when he brought up her name, even though his credentials painted him as someone from one of Seattle’s best known substance abuse centers. Nobody questioned his ID, so they were obviously protecting
her
. That, plus little hints here and there painted a convincing picture.

And then there was the dearth of information from Sarah’s friends, all young girls. Lots of trivia, including her troubles with a bullying preacher father, but nothing substantial. Sarah was most certainly
not
with any of them, nor had they helped her find a place to stay. On the other hand, this Dr. Williams was involved with all sorts of charity stuff, including a shelter for kids. What better type to sweep a wayward druggie under her wing? The trouble was that Williams hadn’t been home the two other times he’d stopped by. Now she was. He’d just seen her park and go inside. She wasn’t that large a woman, so he’d have no problems dealing with her once he’d confirmed his suspicions.

As for Sarah’s whereabouts? He chuckled, patting the switchblade in his pocket. It was amazing what facts came tumbling out when a knife was held to someone’s throat, female doctor or not. Once they did, a simple twist of the wrist finished the job right there.

* * *

The hospital emergency was typical, Marge thought, in that it had ended shortly after it began and was over by the time she arrived. In a way, though, it had been timed just right. Annie needed to get on that plane on her own, because she’d have to get off it on her own as well. There’d be no Marge Williams supporting her there at the other end.

Someone was ringing the doorbell. Now what? A glance through her lace curtains told her it was a tall man in a tan suit, wearing dark, wraparound glasses. He didn’t seem to have anything in his hands, no briefcase or sales stuff. Maybe just going door to door looking for a donation to this or that?

She held her front door slightly open, leaving the security chain in place. “Yes?”

“Might you be Dr. Marjorie Williams?”

“Who wants to know?”

He flashed a folder with a small photo and a flash of gold in one corner of the official-looking ID. “I’m Raphael Garcia, with the Department of Missing Persons for the State of California. I’ve been following leads about a young woman who was one of your patients last December, and—”

He’s not who he says he is! When was the last time you had this feeling? How many years has it been? He’s Legnas, head to toe, you can sense it, you’re certain. He’s here looking for Annie. Disorient him. Use your powers, and do it fast. Don’t let him inside.

“Excuse me for interrupting, sir, but it’s customary to remove dark glasses when presenting an ID. You were saying you’re with the Illinois Division of Delinquent Parents?” She smiled broadly.

“Oh, sorry.” He swept the glasses off. “Yes, that’s right.”

“That’s better. My, you
are
the handsome one! Now you were saying you’d
found
the young man you were looking for?”

“What? Oh… oh, yes.” His expression was suddenly confused, almost blank. “Yes, thank you.” He smiled.

“You were about to tell me his name.”

“Yes, it’s… it’s… actually, ma’am, I don’t think I ever knew his name.”

“You came here looking for someone, but you didn’t know his name? You must have had a description, then. What did he look like?”

His mouth hung open.

“I asked if you could describe him. Was he tall?”

“Um… ah… this tall.” He held a hand above his own head.

“Dressed all in black, perhaps, the way you are?”

“Um… I think so. Yes, that was it.”

“Well, I’m so glad you found him. Have a nice day.”

Good going! He’s totally flummoxed. You haven’t lost your touch. Now just close the door before he figures out he’s wearing a tan suit, not black.

* * *

When Raphael Garcia started his car, he couldn’t think of where he wanted to go next. Why couldn’t he concentrate? Several minutes passed before the cobwebs cleared, and when they did his list of contacts was there on the rider’s seat. Oh, yes, that’s what he’d been doing. It had every possible contact crossed off except for one.

He took out his pen and eliminated the name at the bottom: Dr. Marge Williams. Of all those he’d tracked down, she’d been the most helpful. Problem was he couldn’t really remember anything she’d said. Well, it didn’t matter.

He’d known from the very beginning that he wouldn’t find the girl.

Tucson

An hour out of Tucson, it came to me. We were back to the mackerel again, another big joke! Even though I couldn’t possibly be a spirit the way Marge meant it, whatever I was included
her
in the assignment. It was all too absurd, first Sydney with her deep involvement in these Legnas and out to cause even more trouble, then losing control over my emotional involvements, and finally switching into an even worse situation involving Legnas, and then keeping company with someone who already
knew
that something about me was inhuman. She’d guessed most of my secret almost from the first moment she’d seen me.

I needed my emotional control back, big time. I needed Rule One firmly in place before I could even hope to understand what was going on, and she’d made it sound so simple. Go find out why I was so focused on Lane; be done with it one way or another; find out what Father Gabe is all about. It sounded too easy, but of course
she
hadn’t been in the picture until I’d arrived in that EMS van. She didn’t understand my grief.

I still wasn’t certain what I was going to do once I got to Tucson. All that time I’d had prior to the flight, plus the flight itself, and I’d frittered it all away playing Faith’s shoe game and burying my nose in something I wasn’t even reading. Now my time was up. Not only that, I’d have to rent a car and drive it in a city I didn’t know that well. I couldn’t just sit in the fool thing and not turn the key, and I couldn’t back out because I didn’t want to risk driving. My shift into whoever Jane was had happened so recently that the risk of being switched again was the farthest from my mind. Anxiety was running the situation now, not risk. Besides, I was supposed to let God take me wherever he would, and that included driving.

Somehow Marge’s words didn’t help much.

Shae’s school might be the safest place to go first. I could park there and hope to see her when she came out. No, that wouldn’t be good either, because she might look really sad, and I wanted to remember her smiling. Besides, I couldn’t waste time just sitting there, not knowing if I’d see her at all, or when.

Better that I tackle Father Gabe. He wouldn’t recognize me, and he was more “neutral territory” than the others. He’d set the ball into motion in the first place with Shae’s “show and share.” I might be able to convince him that I was… that I was gathering material for a magazine article about children without parents. That should work. I had a small note pad and pen in the purse Marge had loaned me. Maybe he’d even borrow Shae from her classes for a brief interview.

On second thought, that might unnerve me. It would be better just to talk to him.

I made a mental note to complain to Marge that she was rubbing off on me. I was beginning to think like her.

Compared to perpetually rainy Seattle, Tucson was like coming home. Everything reminded me of Lane. Just breathing the clean, dry air made it feel like he was sitting next to me, wearing one of his goofy smiles. The illusion was so real that I actually checked the passenger’s seat a few times, hoping he’d be sitting there. I was being silly, I knew, but I told myself that hope sometimes did that to people. Silly or not, the feeling intensified as I cautiously pulled into traffic and headed toward his side of town. Even though I never drove unless I was forced to, I did all the right things behind the wheel, in the right order. Maybe it was Jane Doe driving. Maybe driving was like riding a bicycle, that it became automatic just like breathing. The problem was that the Lane I could feel wasn’t the one I was hoping to see, the one who loved me and needed me as much as I needed him.

In my heart, I prayed for just a glimpse of that Lane.

The real Lane loved Sydney, with all her past faults and bad associations. He’d had her in his life now for more than three months. He wanted
her
, not someone who didn’t even
look
like her. And what about Shae? I’d be just another woman to her. She might not tolerate me! Aw… hell! What was I even doing here? Was I some sort of sick masochist?

Closure, I reminded myself. It’s all for closure.

When I pulled into the church parking lot, two medium-sized yellow school buses were parked at the pickup point in front of the school building, though it was only mid-morning. A nun emerged from the building and climbed aboard the lead bus. Were the kids going on a field trip? Would they be inside the building even then, lining up? My emotions were already running helter-skelter, way out of control, but I might be able to spot Shae without having to set foot inside the church.

Hurry up and park. They’ll be coming out any moment!

I found a spot as far away from Father Gabe’s office window as I could get, parking my rental car so I could see everything. Back in Seattle I’d given my emotions free reign, letting them take control of things I did and said. That had worked, so why wasn’t it working now? Why was I such a bundle of nerves? Trying to relax, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Of course! The difference was that I was feeling love—intense love—and if I set
that
free I’d be running through the church school screaming Shae’s name. For that matter, I’d be at Lane’s house, pounding on his windows, begging him to let me in.

When I opened my eyes, the buses were moving, pulling away, making a big U-turn in the parking lot. Oh, no! The windows were filled with children’s forms. They’d been on the buses before I’d even gotten there, and I’d never noticed. I pulled in right behind the second bus, wondering why I couldn’t even remember starting the car. I had to stick with them until they reached wherever they were going or I wouldn’t get another chance. Time was the enemy now, because I needed to be back at the airport in just a few hours. Not only that, I wasn’t even sure that Shae was on one of the buses, but there wasn’t anything else I could do.