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  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I awoke to the muted sounds of quiet conversation. The light was weak, and I blinked until my vision adjusted. Definitely thin light, possibly late afternoon. I must’ve slept the day away. Shapes resolved until I realized I was in my bed in the camper. A mouthwatering scent tempted me. My mom’s restorative broth.

  Blessed be.

  Memories poured into my consciousness. We’d given Twilla Sue a kick-start on her recovery energy, which in turn drained each of us. I must have passed out afterward. Had my parents experienced the same effect? If so, how’d my mom manage to revive so quickly to make her soup?

  My stirring must have alerted the dogs outside. They came to the door and waited expectantly. I made a quick pit stop and then joined everyone at the campfire ring. Larissa ran over and hugged me like I’d been gone a week. Charlotte smiled in greeting, as did my parents.

  “There she is,” my mom said with a lilt in her voice. She got busy ladling broth into a bowl. “How’re you feeling?”

  Larissa and I sat cross-legged beside my mom. Elvis climbed into my lap, and the other dogs lay beside us. I cuddled the little Chihuahua close before I put him down. “Better. But a little embarrassed. How come you and Dad are up and about while I conked out?”

  Charlotte cleared her throat. “I heard you commandeered the link and disproportionately shared your energy, whatever that means.”

  “Neither of us felt any ill effects from the mind-link,” my dad said. “You shared too much of yourself, and you were poised to keep going.”

  “I had no idea,” I said, accepting the steaming mug of soup from my mom. Warmth and peace emanated from the savory broth. I sipped slowly as the familiar and delicious aroma filled me. “Please accept my apology. I meant no harm. The energy channel opened to me, and my instinct to help took over. I should’ve taken my cue from you pros. It felt so good to finally reach the sheriff that I lost track of my sense of self. I tried to be expedient, if that makes any sense.”

  “Expediency has its place,” my father said. “But experience should always be honored. We were lucky to have a man of Mayes’ talent to oversee the transfer.”

  I nodded, my face flushing uncomfortably. “I made a mistake. It won’t happen again.”

  Mom smoothed my hair behind my ear. “You are so powerful. We’re amazed at what you can do.”

  “I keep making mistakes, but I learned another lesson today.” I stared at the fire. “What I know is much less than what I don’t know. Everything I do here and on the Other Side has a ripple effect. In my ignorance today, I put the people I love in jeopardy, and I’m so sorry. I seem to have two gears, full speed ahead or dead stop. I can’t do this alone. Both of you amplify my abilities. If not for you, I’d be lying in that hospital with Twilla Sue getting pumped full of meds after collapsing on the job.”

  “You seem okay now,” Charlotte pointed out.

  “I am okay. A bit tired and a little muzzy-headed like the day before a cold sets in. I feel bad because this was supposed to be a week away from the pressures of home and work. It was supposed to be restful. We’ve hardly had a chance to spend an entire afternoon together, and I’m in the midst of two, maybe three cases.”

  “Three cases?” Larissa asked.

  I drank the last bit of my soup and set the mug aside. “You know about the young man they found at the lake. And the state archeologist brought me a cold case that’s a few years old involving a missing girl.”

  Larissa nodded. “That’s two cases. What’s number three?”

  “The inhabitants of the Bear Claw Lane house. Whether they are related to the local case, I don’t know. But I’m concerned for your safety, and if we didn’t have so many folks here to keep an eye out for danger, I’d insist you go home right now.”

  “I don’t want to go home,” Larissa said. “I want to stay here with you.”

  The entire group gazed at me in expectation. I wanted to be the hero, the fun mom, but I was mired in responsibility. “We’ll play it by ear. You need to have a buddy all the time.”

  Larissa nodded eagerly. “I will.”

  After a lull in the conversation, Dad asked, “Have any dreams during that four-hour nap?”

  “I got nothing. When I’m down that low, I don’t dream. Sorry. But, what about Twilla Sue? Any news?”

  “Her vitals improved,” Dad said. “The doctors say she’s close to waking up. The deputies guarding her will call once she’s alert.”

  “What about the others we found in that house?”

  Dad cut his eyes to Larissa and back. “It doesn’t look good for the young men. The woman, though … she seems to be stabilizing. Perhaps she will recover. That’s what we’re hoping, at least.”

  “And Mayes?”

  “He took some time off this afternoon as well, but he’s back in the office. I heard from him just before you awakened.”

  I nodded. As usual, the world had gone on without me, but I had the strong sense I was missing something. A switch clicked in my head. “What about Gail Bergeron?”

  “Gail spent the day observing autopsies at the morgue. She said she’d swing by in the morning to update you on her case.”

  I gazed at my family and best friend. “I know I don’t say this often enough, but thank you, everyone. I couldn’t help people without you and couldn’t cope with everything else without your love.”

  Larissa wrapped her arms around my neck. “Love you back, Mom.”

  We spent the evening relaxing together, and it wasn’t until everyone was bedded down for the night that I thought to do a perimeter energy check. The only people present were those in our travel party and the deputy who watched the camp, which was a relief.

  All should’ve felt calm and serene, but the peace of the meadow had been replaced with a silent, edgy watchfulness. Something had changed the energy of this place. Whether it was living or dead, I wouldn’t let it harm my family. Not while I had breath in my body.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  True to her word, Gail Bergeron showed up promptly at nine the next morning. I wasn’t fooled by her feminine, mossy-green pantsuit. This woman was as relentless as a riptide and as aggressive as a shark.

  Deputies Mayes and Duncan followed Gail’s Hummer into our campsite. My parents and Larissa were fishing on the lake, so Charlotte and I greeted our guests with hellos. Our words fell on deaf ears.

  Mayes intercepted Gail. “You can’t have her today.”

  “Your emergency is contained,” Gail argued. “My need for Ms. Powell is urgent. Things are breaking in my case because of her. This family needs closure.”

  “In cases like yours, the family blames themselves, so finding the killer won’t bring them closure. They need counseling,” Mayes pointed out. “I’ve got a killer on the loose and an unconscious sheriff. I need Ms. Powell to contact Twilla Sue this morning. We must locate and arrest her abductor before he hurts someone else. There hasn’t been a rash of child abductions and murders in Atlanta since your victim went missing five years ago. Ms. Powell comes with me and works on my case.”

  “I could call the governor.” Gail’s face darkened. “I could have you removed from this case.”

  Mayes shrugged, his granite-hewn features revealing nothing. “Go ahead. Public safety trumps cold justice every time. Even if your pal orders me to step aside, whoever takes my place will have the same priorities. Someone went after a cop. We don’t take that lightly.”

  I was getting a headache from their raised voices. An idea glimmered briefly.

  Gail pinched the top of her nose. “This isn’t fair. I have an obligation to that family.”

  “A self-imposed obligation,” Mayes said. “You mean well, I get that, but—”

  “Hey folks, I have an idea,” I interjected, moving to stand between them. “Gail and I can consult in her car on the way to the hospital. I’m back to a hundred percent, so I’ll have no problem with my energy level today.”

  “That�
��s an excellent idea.” Gail beamed her approval. “A compromise. Mayes still gets you at the hospital right away, and I’ll have a new direction to follow.”

  Mayes scowled at me. “I have a problem with your divided attention. I need you at the top of your game when you work with Twilla Sue.”

  “The ladies are in agreement, Mayes.” Duncan’s gravelly voice rumbled through the meadow. “What say you to us riding together and allowing the ladies to travel with Dr. Bergeron?”

  Mayes glared at him. “You approve of this?”

  Duncan bobbed his head. “Boss always defers to Dr. B. Let’s play nice by sharing our consultant. Then we’ll have Ms. Powell’s help for the rest of the day.”

  I took Mayes’ continued silence as tacit approval. “Great. I’ll grab my book bag, and we can go. Charlotte, you’re welcome to tag along.”

  Charlotte had been talking about hunky Deputy Duncan since dawn. She grinned. “Wouldn’t miss it. I need my purse as well.”

  We hurried up the camper’s steps and collected our stuff. I debated packing my crystal shirt in my book bag, just in case, then rejected the idea. Much better to have it waiting at home for me.

  “This is so fun,” Charlotte confided as she touched up her makeup. “Not only am I part of an investigation, I’ve had six calls from Kip so far asking me where things are at the office. He needs me. Life is good.”

  I dashed off a quick note to my family. I could send a telepathic message to Larissa and my father, but I didn’t want to horn in on their fishing. I stashed the gun under my pillow. “Betcha your boss is feeling the pinch with you gone. No way is Bernard doing all the extras you routinely take care of every day.”

  “Right-o.” Charlotte beamed, the light glinting on her glasses. “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want Bernard to be fired. My goal is to be considered his equal.”

  “If Kip doesn’t realize what a gem he has in you, that’s his loss.”

  “I like the way you think.”

  A horn blasted outside. I winced, not looking forward to the coming skirmish with Gail. “Our chariot awaits.”

  Outside, Gail stood beside her Hummer. The guys were watching from inside Mayes’ cruiser.

  “You there, Candace,” Gail said, “I want you to drive.”

  “My name’s Charlotte, but I’m happy to take the wheel. Where to?”

  “The hospital, but there’s no rush. Ms. Powell and I will be in the backseat working on my case. Your job is to allow us to have discovery time, understand?”

  “Got it.”

  We climbed in, with Gail sitting in the captain’s chair behind Charlotte. A tote bag rested at her feet. “Can you do this on the move?” she asked.

  I buckled my seatbelt, glad of the personal space protection offered by this style of seating. “I’ve awakened in different places when someone moved my body during a dreamwalk. It’s disorienting, like being out of phase with yourself, but it is possible. My preference is to dreamwalk and awaken in the same place,” I admitted, though my explanation sounded weak. “What’s your news? Did they make an arrest?”

  “A pair of Atlanta detectives will visit the Sandelmans this morning. If Tawny knows who Pug is, they’ll get it out of her. But I started thinking about what you said yesterday, and it jarred a memory. I’ve seen that dress before.”

  I waited while she grabbed a photo from her bag.

  “I had a few things shipped overnight here from the evidence locker,” Gail said. “Is this the gown you saw?”

  She turned the photo over, and there was the tea-party gown Regina had worn in the vision. On her mom, the fabric stretched tight across her buxom figure.

  I met Gail’s intense gaze. “That’s the dress. Why?”

  “Because it was found in the far corner of the yard. Senator Knox blew up because he thought Tawny had stripped outside for one of her lovers. She denied it, of course. And he started in on her infidelities. According to the detectives, it was an awful scene. Bottom line, the dress was collected in evidence.”

  “I’ll look at it, but there’s a chance the same scene I already witnessed will be attached to the fabric.”

  “And another chance we may learn something different.”

  “Was it tested for DNA?”

  “Not at the time, but it could be tested now, especially if the killer’s DNA is on it. Will you examine it now?”

  “A touch test is different from a dreamwalk. Touch tests pick up emotion. What happened before with Regina was a gift. I’m almost never allowed interaction with murdered spirits.”

  “Whatever. Let’s try it.”

  Charlotte eased down the lane by the creek. As Gail dug into her tote bag, a dirty fog enveloped the car. “Y’all see that?” I asked.

  “I don’t see anything,” Charlotte said, her syllables dragging out in slow motion.

  An awful sense of foreboding flooded my body as the mist thickened. This was not the way to the hospital.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Utter darkness descended as the entire vehicle passed through the veil of life. Ludicrous as that sounded, the disorienting sensation was the same as when I went into a dreamwalk. I gripped the sides of my seat and braced myself for what would come next. Sure enough, the Hummer began spinning, rolling end over end, and yawing from side to side. Something had us. They’d taken the entire car from our campground.

  The last time I’d carried someone along accidentally on a dreamwalk, I’d nearly died. Now I was responsible for two people, myself, and an expensive vehicle. I focused on stabilizing our freefall and eventually oriented us so we were upright and level, though still plunging downward in the dark. The seatbelt held me firmly in place.

  Suddenly, the wheels touched down, and I pinched myself to see if I was in spirit or human form. Oddly, I was flesh and blood. How was that possible?

  I gazed around. “Charlotte? Gail? Are you all right?”

  No answer. Of course not. That would’ve been too easy. I unbuckled my seatbelt and climbed over the center console to switch the car lights on. I touched every knob, moved every lever. Nothing happened. Not even a click. No juice at all. But the fog was lifting. I could make out my hand in front of my face. That was good news.

  I unbuckled Gail’s belt and patted her face. “Wake up!”

  She stirred uneasily but I hadn’t awakened her. I climbed to the front and tried the same with Charlotte. No response. Whatever had us, I felt sure I was the reason for the abduction. This was not right, and I had to fix it.

  Reaching deep for courage, I opened my door and exited the vehicle. “Hello? Anybody out here?”

  This place didn’t resemble my dreamwalker world on the Other Side. For one thing, the ground felt solid and cold beneath my feet, and the air smelled damp and earthy. Were we in a cave? If so, how’d we get here?

  I ventured a few steps away from the car. “Hello?”

  At a soft moan, I inched behind the Hummer and stumbled across another vehicle. What was this? Feeling my way down the side of the car, I opened the passenger door and traced a man’s craggy features with my fingertips. My gut clenched. Deputies Mayes and Duncan in the police cruiser had also been transported to this creepy place. Great, now my responsibilities included two more people and a police cruiser.

  Like Charlotte and Gail, Duncan was unconscious. Mayes, however, was twitching and stirring.

  “Too soon,” Mayes mumbled. “I told you I’d bring her.”

  “Who are you talking to?” I asked, reaching over and tapping his chest. His energy level spiked, and I knew he’d fully awakened.

  He turned to face me in the cloying mist. “The Little People. They’ve brought us to their land.”

  Only recently had I heard about the Little People. Twilla Sue had mentioned them in a comment about Mayes and the murder. Was Mayes working for someone else? Was he on my side? I wasn’t sure if I could trust him. “It’s a dark place,” I replied in a neutral tone.

  “That’s part of their char
m. The tunnel is the only darkness here. Outside the passageway, there is light, and life, and merriment.”

  I shrugged, and truth be told, felt a wave of relief. “Doesn’t sound half-bad.”

  “It’s meant to confound you. If you venture out of this cave, you’ll lose track of normal time.”

  His words alarmed me. I couldn’t afford to waste time. My vacation kept getting cut. “What should we do?”

  “We summon them.”

  “Is that wise?”

  “They’re our only way out. The vehicles won’t work here. Theoretically, we could walk back through the portal, but we’d have to abandon the vehicles.”

  My vision seemed to be crisping up. I could see Mayes more clearly in the murk. “No way is Gail going to leave her new Hummer.”

  “Twilla Sue would be pissed if I left a cruiser here as well.”

  I tried to wrap my head around that. “Will the others awaken?”

  “In time.” He took a slow breath, as if debating what to say next. “You and I are used to alternate realities, so we came to our senses immediately. The others won’t awaken as quickly.”

  Was he concerned about trusting me? How bizarre. “How do you know about this place?”

  “It is the lore of my people. When the gatekeeper comes, I’ll speak for us. You will follow my lead. No jumping in and playing hero. Our lives and our friends’ lives are at stake.”

  I hated being chastised, but I understood. He was the expert here. I was treading in uncharted waters. If he could make these Little People let us go, more power to him. Back in the real world, I had things to do, people to see.

  A faint thumping sound grew louder. I pivoted and cocked my head to hear better. “What’s that?”

  “The drums. Ignore them.”

  I strained toward the sound. “The beat is catchy. We should check it out.”

  “Block the sound. Now. If you get lured by the drums, we’re doomed.”

  “I don’t want to block it. I want to see it for myself.”

  I turned, vaguely aware of Mayes exiting the cruiser. My feet moved of their own accord. As I cleared the Hummer, a bright light dawned ahead. I yearned to be in that perfect light. I desperately wanted to feel its warmth on my skin.