by D C Young
“Taz,” Sledge replied. “This is Samantha Moon.”
“Sam,” I said, extending my hand toward Taz.
“Where you been hiding her?” he asked.
“It’s not what you think,” I responded.
“Sure it’s not,” he grinned.
“It’s really not,” Sledge sighed. “Sam is here about Taylor.”
You might as well have turned on a vacuum in the room as the air was instantly sucked out of both Taz and Caroline’s lungs, along with all of the color that had been in their faces. Caroline’s eyes turned toward me, seeing me in an entirely new way. Fear, confusion and sadness flashed across her face briefly before she locked up her emotions behind a wall. It was clear I was treading on hallowed ground.
Chapter Three
“I brought her so that she could help me,” Sledge whispered. There was no point in him speaking louder. Besides color and air being sucked out of the room, so was all sound. The room was engulfed in a painful, deathlike silence.
Neither of the Atkins’ responded. I didn’t feel like it was my place to speak in that moment. I looked toward Sledge and waited. He’d gotten me into the situation; it was his responsibility to explain himself.
“She’s the best there is,” he continued. “I wanted her to hear your story, Caroline, and see if she could pick up some ideas or leads from it.”
“Well, I don’t know if…” Caroline started to object. She fixed a stern look on Taz. “Did you set this up without telling me?”
“No, I did it myself,” Sledge cut in. “Taz didn’t even know about it. I didn’t know about it until today.”
“I just told him what you saw, or thought you saw at Golden Bear and asked him if BACA could help. I didn’t know he’d…” His voice trailed off as he realized that his explanation was having no effect on his wife.
“I thought you said I was getting my hopes up over nothing,” she hissed as she addressed her husband through clenched teeth.
“I did. I do, but I just thought maybe Sledge could…”
“Caroline,” Sledge whispered, uncomfortable with the situation. “I just want to help.”
“I know you do, you big dolt,” she smiled. Tears streamed down her face as she reached across and took his hands into hers. She looked at me and attempted a feeble smile. “I told you he had a big heart.”
“I don’t doubt it,” I replied, matching her smile with one of my own.
She studied me for a long moment and I watched a glimmer of hope start to rise up. “Can you help find my baby?”
I didn’t know in that moment if I could find her daughter or not. Ten years was a very long time for leads, in any case, to remain warm, much less hot. As she looked into my eyes and placed her hope in me, however, I knew that I had to try. I reached out, placed my hand over one of hers and said. “I will do my very best.”
“Why don’t you tell her what you saw at Golden Bear, Babe?” Taz suggested. “It sure can’t hurt.”
“I suppose you’re right.” She smiled weakly at him. “I’m sorry. It really hurt when you didn’t believe me and, well…”
“It’s okay, Babe. Let’s see what Sledge and Sam can do. We can’t get our hopes up, but it sure won’t hurt to try.”
She looked back in my direction and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry. Seeing Taylor the other day opened up a lot of old wounds.”
“I understand. Why don’t you tell me about what you saw?” I didn’t see any point in arguing whether or not she had seen her daughter who had gone missing ten years before. It was likely that she hadn’t, but stranger things had happened and there was no point dismissing something as improbable as being impossible.
“Jackson and I…” she began. “Jackson is our son; he was born right before Taylor went missing. He’s at school right now. What time is it?”
“It’s okay, Babe,” Taz jumped in. “School doesn’t let out for several hours.”
Caroline turned back toward me. “I’m sorry. I become a basket case the moment I hear her name.”
“Understandable.”
“Jackson and I had gone to Golden Bear with a couple of his friends and another one of the mothers. We’d just gotten off of that roller coaster ride that goes through the dark and the boys had begged to go back around and do it again. I really didn’t want to, but you can’t really just let ten-year-old boys loose in an amusement park without some sort of supervision, so Jeanette suggested that I sit tight and wait for them and she’d stick with the boys.”
She stopped for a moment, fought with her emotions, seemed to gain control over them and then continued her story. “I wasn’t sure it was her at first. I mean, children change so much in ten years time, but there are certain things that a mother can recognize in her child’s face that she’d recognize after a hundred years. It’s in their eyes and the way they move their mouth when they speak and a thousand other things they do. Taylor used to always bite at the corner of the fingernail on her middle finger whenever she was thinking about something. Do you have children, Sam?”
The question came from out of nowhere and I wasn’t quite ready for it. “Um… yes… I have two children.”
“Then you know what I’m talking about,” she smiled.
I did know what she was talking about. There were things that Tammy and Anthony did, which as Caroline had said, I would know until they were a hundred, if I lived… well… if I was around that long and, as awkward as that would be, I really hoped I would be. As a mother, I was pretty sure that I would always recognize my children. I was still considering that thought when Caroline’s voice drew me out of my thoughts.
“I was watching a staff member… she was wearing the same uniform as I’d seen on other staff members… and directing a small group of children nearby, trying to get them to go to the Castle of the Princess with her. The little girls in the group were eager enough, but there were a couple of little boys who were more intent on the Pirates of the Pacific. I wasn’t paying much attention until I saw her put her finger up to her mouth and then I started watching her.”
Caroline captured both of my hands under hers and fixed her eyes directly on my eyes. “I know that I saw my Taylor. It wasn’t just what I saw with my eyes, but also what I saw with my heart. You know what I’m talking about.”
I did know what she was talking about and I said as much. “I do know.”
“I started toward her, but she got swept up in a crowd and I lost her. I tried to convince myself that I was mistaken. I mean, it’s been ten years, and people just don’t show up after they’ve been missing ten years, but I know what I saw. I know who I saw. We tried to talk to Golden Bear about it but, of course, we might have had more luck getting answers from a brick wall. We basically got the runaround about their employees; especially about whether those who worked with children like I described, had extensive background checks. I was told that I was mistaken and that no one fitting Taylor’s description was working at the park… blah, blah, blah.”
I believed Caroline. I believed every word she said. The enormous problem that hit me immediately was that I would have a hard time figuring out a place to start searching. I’d have no better luck at Golden Bear than anyone else. I knew that my next question was going to be a hard one, like ripping off a nearly healed scar, but I really needed to get the full story from the beginning. I led into it as gently as I was able.
“Caroline, I know this might be tough, but could you tell me the whole story from the beginning… from when Taylor first went missing?”
Chapter Four
Tammy hurried to the window and pulled back the shade to take a look the moment she heard the throaty rumble of a Harley pulling into the driveway. She’d had a thing for motorcycles for quite some time. It wasn’t typical for a seventeen-year-old girl, at least that is what she’d been told, but she just loved their look and their sound. No other motorcycle did it for her. More shocking than the fact that the motorcycle had pulled i
nto their driveway was the insane moment when she recognized the woman slipping off the back of the bike behind a rugged-looking man dressed in leather. She rushed to the door, out onto the front lawn and straight up to her mother.
“O-M-G, that is the shit!”
“Tammy!” her mother snapped. “Your mouth.”
“Mother!” she retorted. “What are you doing?”
Seeing her mother on the back of the Harley had drawn so much of her attention that she had barely paid any mind to the man driving, until he stood, swung his leg over the bike, and then began to rise up to his full, massive height. The dark, wrap-around glasses hid his eyes, causing the scowl and thick beard to magnify in effect. Tammy froze and stared at the man.
“Tammy, this is Sledge,” her mother announced.
“Tammy,” Sledge growled and nodded at her.
Her mother had gone riding with an enormous man named Sledge? Was she dreaming or had she walked through some portal into a parallel universe where things ceased to make sense? Still keeping a wary eye turned toward the huge biker, she looked at her mother for an explanation. “Mom?”
“Mister Sledge and I are working on a new case together,” her mother replied casually. Not only was her response casual, but the smile and wink was a baffling addition to a completely inexplicable situation. She turned her attention away from Tammy and toward the biker. “We need to try to put together some sort of game plan, if you want to come on in?”
Sledge grunted and nodded, and then followed her mother toward the front door. Tammy stood and watched them, glanced at the bike, and then back at her mother and Sledge. She was torn between her overwhelming desire to give the bike a thorough examination and the greater one of trying to figure out what business the big biker and her mother could possibly have. She followed her mother and Sledge.
Tammy was only half listening to the conversation between her mother and Sledge. She had taken a position at the table which allowed her to watch whatever was going on between her mother and Sledge and still be able to check out the fully tricked out Harley sitting in their driveway. Her eyes continued to go back and forth between the bike and the conversation about the disappearance of some girl who had shown up at Golden Bear Amusement Park. From their conversation, Tammy had gathered that Sledge was a part of a group of bikers who helped defend against child abuse. It was a little odd to her given the fact that, as a child, well an older child, the man scared the living daylights out of her.
“You like my bike?” Sledge growled in a low tone.
“Huh?” Tammy responded once she realized that the big biker was addressing her.
Sledge nodded toward the driveway. “You like my bike?”
“Um, well, yeah, it’s alright,” she hedged. Tammy wasn’t sure how to play it cool with a biker like Sledge.
A corner of Sledge’s mouth turned up into what was something like a smile. It was really kind of scary, though without the dark glasses, his eyes seemed to have a softness to them which totally defied her first impressions. “You sure have been checking it out a lot.”
Tammy shrugged.
“She’s recently found an interest in bikes… particularly Harleys. I blame it on that documentary that aired on History Channel recently,” her mother announced with a broad grin.
“Oh yeah… I know the one,” Sledge replied smiling openly. Then he turned back to Tammy and added, “It was really good, and accurate too.”
Tammy blushed and beamed at the same time. She couldn’t believe that her mother had just sold her out but she was even more proud of Sledge’s approval of her having seen the four part miniseries about the legendary man behind the Harley-Davidson empire.
Sledge frowned and narrowed one eye. “You know bikes?”
“I know a little,” Tammy replied casually. She knew a lot, but didn’t want to over-commit herself, that wasn’t cool.
“Yeah? Well, how about we go check it over, and then you can tell me what you think about adding a new tail-light kit, huh?”
“I can give it a look,” Tammy replied, fighting the urge to leap up from her chair and dash out to the driveway. She waited as Sledge pushed himself up and was almost to the door before she followed behind him.
After several minutes of looking over the Harley, Tammy was praying that Sledge would offer to give her a ride. She couldn’t ask him, because that just wouldn’t be cool, but she was using every positive energy signal she could pull together to get him to make the offer.
“You know, kid,” Sledge growled. “I’ve been needing somebody that knows bikes to sit on the back seat of this hog and get a feel for how well she is tuned up when she’s on the road. I just can’t hear it well enough from up front. You wanna give it a go?”
“I can help you out,” she replied, trying not to break out into an uncontrollable giggle. She disguised the broad smile on her face by turning away and looking at her mother. She didn’t get the question out to ask for permission.
“Go ahead,” her mother smiled.
“Here,” Sledge groused. “Put on this brain bucket while I get her cranked up.”
Tammy put on the helmet. It was one of those cool kind that only Harley riders can wear; a flat black one which left her ears exposed. With her mother’s help, she got the chin strap adjusted and the helmet in place just in time to hear the deep-throated roar of the motor as Sledge started it up.
“Have fun,” her mom whispered, giving her a little wink.
Tammy was in heavy sitting behind Sledge on the bike as they cruised around the neighborhood. At first, she sat back and tried to be cool, but as Sledge gave the machine a good solid boost of power to accelerate away from a traffic light, she reached up to stabilize herself by grabbing onto his leather jacket. Her elation over the ride on the Harley was suddenly pushed aside as a very strong, psychic feeling came over her.
It wasn’t the first time Tammy had ever had a psychic episode, but it was the first time she had ever had one so strong. Everything was blocked out around her as a vision of Sledge playing with a little girl began to overwhelm her. There was a sweet tenderness connecting the two of them together and it warmed her. The vision quickly changed from Sledge playing with the little girl to Sledge talking to Allison, her mom’s friend and fellow paranormal. Tammy was just getting tuned into the conversation, which had something to do with paperwork, when the connection broke as they cruised back up to the curb in front of her house and Sledge shut off the motor.
“Well?” Sledge asked. “What do you think?”
“It sounds bad ass,” Tammy nodded as she took off the helmet. “I wouldn’t mess with it.”
“I’ll take your word for it, then.” Sledge looked toward her mother. “I’ll call you in the morning, okay?”
“I’ll do my homework and be ready,” her mom replied.
“You take care,” he growled at Tammy and then raised his fist.
Tammy raised her fist and bumped his. “You too.”
The bike grumbled to life again, and then Sledge road away with Tammy and her mom looking after him.
Chapter Five
“That was so freakin’ awesome!” Tammy exclaimed as soon as Sledge was out of sight.
“You liked that, huh?” I laughed. I was grateful to Sledge for including Tammy where the bike was concerned. I was pretty sure that he’d made up the excuses he did in order to give her a ride. I also knew that Tammy was doing her very best to control herself and play it cool.
“We gotta get one of those.”
“Yeah, right,” I laughed. “I can just see all three of us and our bags of groceries coming back from the supermarket on the back of that.”
“That’s why they have saddlebags and who says all three of us would ride it together.”
“We do have to take your brother along with us for certain things, you know?”
Tammy snorted, and then her expression changed and she looked right at me. “I had a vision while I was riding with Sledge.”
“
You had a vision?” Her casual tone was a new one. Up until that point, her visions had been something of a major event. I assumed that it had to do with the fact that getting to ride a Harley far outweighed it. “What sort of vision?”
“It was about Sledge and a little girl and Allison,” Tammy replied.
I certainly wasn’t expecting Sledge to have any connection to Allison. Allison and a biker? I smiled as I considered the fact that, up until recently, I wouldn’t have connected me to Sledge either. I tried to remain calm as I ushered Tammy into the house. “So, what can you tell me about this vision?”
“Well, it was pretty short and I didn’t pick up much, except that Sledge was playing with some little girl, like maybe his daughter, but I don’t think she was actually his daughter. I think the little girl was an orphan or something. There was a weird energy coming from her too, but she and Sledge had a really strong connection and then everything shifted to a conversation between Sledge and Allison.”
“What were they saying?” I asked and then waited patiently as I watched Tammy struggle to remember details.
“I was just getting tuned into their conversation when we pulled up to the curb out front and the connection was broken. I think I heard something about paperwork. I don’t know. The first part came more slowly and drawn out, but the second part was more like a flash of light and then it was gone.”
“Don’t fret it, kiddo,” I smiled. “You did good. I’ll call Allison and see if she can fill me in on her connection with Sledge. Who knows? Maybe you’ve just helped us with our case.”
“I can tell you to rest easy where Sledge is concerned. He sounds rough, but he has an amazing heart and loving spirit.”
“That’s a really good thing to know,” I responded. I’d already been picking that up about him as he was dealing with Tammy and including her into things, but I also trusted Tammy’s psychic perception of him. All I needed to do was to find out how he connected to Allison. “I’ll give Allison a call as soon as I get through making supper for you and your brother.”