Dark Visions (13 page)

He jogged back to the cruiser and then
around it. Five meters from the cop car was the edge of a steep
hill. It ended where a small lake started.

Things were looking up.

He turned, opened the rear door and pulled
the girl out. She sat on the grass and stared off into space, her
face blank. Her right hand was at the nape of her neck. He leaned
over to see what she was doing. Her thumb and index finger were
yanking on a small clump of hair. He stepped away from her.

Sarah's fingers fluttered, hair dropping
from them.

He shook his head. Weird.

He reached in and shifted the cruiser into
neutral. Then he began to push, which turned out to be easier than
he thought.

The vehicle crested the top of the hill and
started its descent. On the way down it bottomed out a few times,
scraping against large stones and gouging small holes into the
earth.

It hit the bottom of the hill with a huge
splash. Then it started a slow descent into the dark water.

He turned back to the girl.

She was gone.

Chapter 28

Amelia could hear the detective summoning
her from the den.

"Mrs. Roberts, I think you'd better listen
to this."

After talking to Dolan she needed a few
minutes by herself before she told the cops that her husband was at
their police station.

The sun shone through the blinds covering
the front window. Amelia stared at the floor where the light made
curious straight lines and wondered if she was ready to hear
whatever the cop wanted her to listen to. Could she handle it if
something happened to Sarah? Why did she feel so weak and helpless
and yet so vulnerable?

"Mrs. Roberts?" The detective stood in the
doorway.

Amelia looked up. She acknowledged him with
a nod and started down the hall after him.

They entered Caleb's den where two
plainclothes officers were setting up wires and what she thought
were listening devices. Both men had been introduced to her earlier
but she already forgot their names.

"When we noticed messages on the machine we
decided to listen to them in case one of them was your daughter.
Anyone could've called when you were asleep and left information
that could help."

"Okay." Amelia took a step back and leaned
against the wall.

"How well do you know your husband?"

"What do you mean?"

The detective looked over at his
technicians, made some kind of facial gesture and turned back to
Amelia. Both men stood up and walked out the door, closing it
behind them.

"What's going on here, Detective?"

"Sam. I would prefer it if you called me
Sam. We're going to be spending a little time together so it would
be easier if you'd use my first name."

"What did you hear on the answering
machine?"

"I don't want to alarm you. Maybe you should
be sitting down for this."

"I'm not a baby. Just tell me. I can handle
it, or at least I'll try to."

Perhaps he was right. If the worst news was
about to come out of the machines tiny speaker, maybe she should be
sitting down. She walked over to the couch, where she dropped to
the cushions and put her face into her hands.

She heard a button being pushed and the
familiar click of a message about to start.

Amelia could identify her husband's voice
immediately. He wasn't speaking from the phone in the den because
the machine had picked up at the same time as Caleb did, which
recorded the conversation she was about to hear.

"
Hello,
" Caleb said, his voice rushed
like he had run for the phone.

A whispered response followed. "
I have
your daughter. I want five hundred thousand delivered to a location
I will reveal in ten days.
"

Amelia gasped. It was confirmation Sarah had
been kidnapped. Her baby had been taken. And her husband knew about
it. Why didn't he tell her? Why hide this from her?

"
Who are you?
" Caleb shouted. "
How
do I know you've got her?
"

"You've got ten days. No police, or she
dies."

Amelia heard a click and the answering
machine stopped. She let out a breath she had been holding and
raised a hand to cover her open mouth. Questions riddled her mind.
Where was Sarah now? Was she safe? What could be happening to her?
Why would Caleb lie to her?

"Mrs. Roberts? Do you need a moment?"

Amelia shook her head back and forth. "What
time was that call recorded?"

"The machine time-stamped it 7:34am. Your
husband took this call before my officers came to your door this
morning. Maybe that was why he told you it was Jehovah Witness' at
your door. The caller said 'no police.'"

She hoped Caleb's lie was to protect Sarah.
"The call came when I was still asleep. Why wouldn't he tell me?"
She drifted off with her thoughts. "Maybe it was because he was
headed to the Psychic Fair. He wouldn't have wanted me to know he
was going there because of how much he despised the place. We've
argued over the past week about that fair."

"What did you argue about?" the detective
asked.

"I wanted to take my daughter there and he
didn't. Caleb doesn't believe in psychics of any kind. He probably
went to see who was involved with Sarah's kidnapping because of the
warning Esmerelda gave her."

"What warning?"

"When Sarah attended the fair, a psychic
named Esmerelda warned her that she was in danger. That's why the
police took him away. He was probably pissed off after the ransom
call and headed there straight away thinking they had something to
do with this."

The possibility of never seeing Sarah alive
again hit her. She bent at the waist, feeling physically wounded.
On the table beside the couch was a Kleenex box which she fumbled
with until one came loose. She blew her nose and tried to compose
herself. It wouldn't do Sarah any good to fall apart.

"Mrs. Roberts, when you said the police took
him away, what were you referring to?"

She looked at the cop. He was standing by
the phone.

How did her life come to this?

She hugged herself when the thought came to
her that she may have to bury another child. She knew she'd lose
her mind if Sarah was killed.

It wouldn't just be Sarah dying.

Chapter 29

"I've done all that I'm going to do," Dolan
said as he walked away from Esmerelda.

"Which is not nearly enough," Esmerelda said
as she hurried to keep up. "We've known each other a long time.
I've never seen you shrug off a kidnapping like this. Why, Dolan?
Just tell me why?"

"I already did. Too many lives are at risk.
I feel my involvement adds to the level of danger."

"That sounds ridiculous. You don't really
believe that, do you?"

She wanted his attention so she decided a
good way to get under his skin was to question his psychic power.
They were walking through the back corridor, heading to the
employee parking lot. When Dolan got to his car he would be
leaving. That gave her a minute to convince him to help Sarah.

"Look me in the eye," she stopped to catch
her breath, "and tell me you are absolutely certain your helping
Sarah does more harm than good."

He stopped and turned to face her. The pause
gave her a chance to breathe. She leaned against the hallway wall,
panting with a hand on her chest.

"Esmerelda, why do you question me like
this? You've seen me help people for over twenty years. I'm not a
hero. But you know as well as I do that, number one, I can't save
everybody, and number two, I shouldn't save everybody."

He stopped talking for a moment to let other
employees pass. He looked back at Esmerelda. "What I mean is, there
are people who should live the path they're on without
interference. Changing fate is a dangerous game. You of all people
know that."

"I don't believe philosophy is the reason
behind this. I think there's a personal reason. And I think you're
being selfish." She stood to her full height, all four feet, eleven
inches. "How popular you are with the public won't change whether
you help Sarah or not. People will continue to treat you like a
celebrity until you move to a remote cabin in the mountains and
become a recluse. One more teenage girl won't change your life. But
it'll change hers."

He turned and started walking to the parking
lot again. She followed close behind as they stepped out onto the
asphalt. A recent sun shower coated the cement, which emitted a wet
burning smell.

"Dolan, listen to me. I don't want to say
this, but if you don't at least try to help Sarah, I will leave
this fair. Do you hear me, I will quit."

He stopped again and turned around. The sun
bounced off something shiny on the pavement causing her to squint.
The heat didn't help with her rapid breathing.

"Esmerelda, you are being most difficult.
Trust me, my interference isn't personal. It's just..."

"What? What's stopping you?"

"I feel someone close to me is either
directly or indirectly involved with this case. I don't know how or
why, or who this individual is. All I do know is if I don't help,
this mystery person will live. On the other hand, this person dies
if I get involved. By my actions, whether it's inadvertent or not,
I will be killing him or her. I can't aid in Sarah's kidnapping
case because I refuse to be a murderer."

Chapter 30

Sarah crouched low.

She knew he would have seen her if she had
gone for the highway. It was too wide open. The woods on either
side would have given ample shelter, but getting to them posed the
same problem; too far to get unseen.

So she had run in the open back door of the
motel. Maybe she could find a way to get to the front and then run
for the highway. She even tried the dusty pay phone by the front
counter, but it was dead.

When the motel inhabitants had abandoned the
building years ago, they'd taken everything with them but a number
of fixed pieces of furniture. Sarah couldn't find anything to use
as a weapon.

She stayed low, hiding under a window that
looked out to the back of the motel where the police car had gone
over the edge of the hill. She had watched as the guy realized he
was standing on the brown grass alone. He turned and ran to the
edge of the building where he disappeared from her sight.

She decided to count to ten and then venture
outside. If the guy stayed in the front of the building, searching
for her near the highway or in the woods, maybe she could get below
the edge of the hill and be gone.

She counted up to eight before she heard
him. The noise he made revealed his anger. He was in the building
somewhere to her left, banging things around.

Nine. Glass broke in a room next to the one
she was in. She wondered why she had waited to ten. Why not count
to five?

Ten. Just to be obsessive about it, she said
the number in a whisper to herself and then got to her feet. Her
back hunched, head bobbing, she ran for the opening that led
outside.

A large shadow filled the door. Sarah came
to an abrupt stop and stood up. Sweat broke out on her neck and
back, a lone strip of moisture glided gently down her spine. The
man in the doorway wasn't her captor, but that wasn't a relief.

He had some kind of automatic weapon in his
hand. She heard more glass breaking behind her, followed by
screaming.

"He kidnapped me. Are you here to help?"

The brute of a man reached in and grabbed
her. He spun Sarah into him, almost enveloping her with his size.
Her small struggle was futile, her verbal protests quieted by his
large hand.

He pulled her outside with him. Half
dragging, half lifting, he guided her to the construction trailer.
Seconds later they were inside, the door locked behind them.

She wondered who he was and why he would be
carrying a gun out in the open. At least this was an improvement.
She wasn't with her captor anymore and this guy was huge. Maybe
this was the end of her ordeal.

"Can I use your phone?"

He was on her with speed she didn't know
someone his size could have. His hand was clamped so hard on her
mouth that it covered her nose too. Breathing wasn't an option.

Her eyes watched his free hand. He yanked
gray duct tape from a drawer. With his teeth, he pulled off a small
strip.

He angled her head down where she watched
her chest heaving as much as felt it. Air rushed to her lungs when
his hand left her face. The man took the strip of duct tape and
covered her mouth. He laid her down and worked on her ankles and
wrists until she was secured with the tape.

He nudged her hips with his foot to get her
against a wall. Eyes wide, breathing rapidly from her nostrils, she
lifted her head and watched him grab a blanket. He came back and
covered her with it.

The world turned a soft green. She struggled
and twisted, but the blanket remained. It lifted and dropped with
her breathing. She couldn't hear much of what he was doing. Her
pulse was pounding in her head.

She was thinking about dumb luck and how
much of it she had. How could someone go from being kidnapped, to
being rescued by a kidnapper? It was insane.

A dark urge grew inside her; the need to
pull. It blossomed into something uncontrollable, making her moan
and writhe. The need to pull was always there; sometimes soft,
delicate, other times desirable, a pleasure. But this urge was a
demand.

One that she couldn't answer.

With the muscles in her arms straining, she
wrapped her fingers around, testing the bonds of tape on her
wrists. It was no use. She would not get to pull any hair until
someone undid her.

Her mind started to slip. She felt a subtle
kind of letting go. There was freedom in the pain. There were also
tears. One rolled down her cheek and fell into the recess of her
ear, cooling as it settled.