Search and Rescue

by Gail Anderson-Dargatz

  I did know where Amber was. She was at the lookout on the top of Little Mountain.

  Was she alive? I tried to focus on her face, what I could see of it under her hair. There was blood on her forehead. She appeared to be unconscious, knocked out. Yet she was still breathing. “Oh, thank god,” I said.

  “What?” asked Matt.

  As soon as I heard him speak, I lost the vision. I saw only myself in that window now. I looked like I felt: scared. I feared for Amber’s safety, but I also feared for my own. Why was this happening to me? The vision left me feeling dizzy and shaky.

  Still, I had to focus on Amber. I had to save her. “I was right,” I told Matt. “I know where Amber is. She’s still alive, but hurt. I saw her lying on the ground near the Little Mountain viewpoint.”

  “Way up there?” Matt asked. “Amber couldn’t have walked all that way on foot.” He frowned. “How do you know where she is? Where is she now?”

  “Still there, I expect.”

  Matt shook his head. “I don’t understand. You saw her there, lying on the ground, and didn’t think to drive her down? What is the matter with you?”

  “I wasn’t there, exactly,” I said.

  “Did you see her at the viewpoint or not?”

  “I saw her there, but I wasn’t there myself.” At least, my body wasn’t, I thought. I felt like some part of my mind had traveled to find Amber. “They call it remote viewing,” I told him.

  Matt shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

  “When I held Amber’s jacket earlier and again just now, I saw—” I paused. There was no way out of this. I had to tell him. “I had a vision of her.”

  Matt laughed. “A vision? You mean like the visions your mom has? Hell, she’s forever phoning me up, telling me where to find some lost tourist. All because she saw the poor slob in one of her ‘visions.’ I won’t take her calls anymore.”

  “I know it sounds goofy,” I said. “But I swear that’s where Amber is.”

  Matt rubbed a finger over the stubble on his upper lip as he thought for a moment. “I heard the cops, ambulance drivers and firefighters call you Radar,” he said. “You turn up at accident scenes before they do.”

  “Sometimes,” I said, trying to make less of it. Then I nodded, admitting the truth. “Often.”

  “I take it you have these ‘visions’ often too.”

  “No, I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” I said. “I’ve only had hunches, gut feelings. I’ll know I have to turn down a certain road. Then there’ll be an accident on that road in front of me.”

  I glanced down at Amber’s jacket in my lap. “This time was different. I saw Amber as clearly as I’m seeing you.”

  “You were imagining things.” He paused. “Or hallucinating.”

  “I’m not seeing things, not in that way. I’m not crazy. I can prove it to you.”

  “I don’t have time for this,” Matt said. “There’s a girl missing on that mountain.” He took Amber’s jacket from me. “We’re into winter, and Amber doesn’t even have this to protect her.”

  “Matt, please listen to me,” I begged. “I know that’s where she is.”

  “Go home, Claire,” Matt said. He looked down at my bare legs under my short skirt. “And put on something warm so you don’t freeze to death yourself.” He went back to studying his map. “I don’t want to have to rescue you too.”

  I raked a hand through my hair as I searched my memory of the vision. I had to convince Matt that what I saw was real. “She was wearing a charm bracelet,” I told him. “One of the charms was a tiny boat.”

  Matt turned back to me, shocked. “Who else were you talking to?” he demanded. “How did you know she was wearing that bracelet?”

  “No one,” I said. “Jim told me Amber was missing. Then I came here and talked to you.”

  “Then how could you know about the boat on that bracelet?” He peered at me, angry. “Did you talk to Amber’s mom before you got here?”

  “No. Like I said, I saw it.”

  “In a vision.”

  “Yes.”

  Matt paused a moment, then took my elbow. “Come on.”

  He led me outside the bus. I trotted beside him in my high heels as he strode to his pickup truck. “Where are we going?” I asked him.

  “Up to the Little Mountain viewpoint,” he said.

  “You believe me?”

  “No.”

  “Then why—?”

  “The truth is, we haven’t had any luck tracking Amber,” he told me. “The police dog hasn’t picked up her scent. Temperatures are dropping. If we don’t find her in the next couple of hours, she’ll freeze to death. I’ll take any lead at this point, no matter how silly it sounds.”

  “Aren’t you taking a team of searchers with you?” I asked.

  “I said I’d check out your story, but I’m not going to waste our volunteers’ time. Amber was last seen jogging this wilderness trail. That’s where we’ll focus the search.” He opened the passenger door of his truck for me. “I’ll take you up to the viewpoint myself.”

  I hesitated before getting in his truck. “The last thing I want to do is waste your time,” I said.

  “You’ve already done that.” Matt got into the truck and lifted his chin at me. “Get in,” he said.

  FOUR

  As Matt drove up the logging road, he glanced at my high heels. “You’re not exactly dressed for this,” he said. When I saw him check out my cleavage, I buttoned my jacket over my white blouse.

  Matt turned to face the road ahead of us, embarrassed. “But you look good,” he added. He lowered his voice. “Really good.”

  “Thanks, I think,” I said. He looked good too, though I wouldn’t tell him that. He had a day-old beard, and it suited him. Then, of course, there was his search-and-rescue jacket. I admit, I’m a sucker for a guy in uniform.

  I’m sure that’s the real reason I agreed to go out with Trevor. There’s nothing sexier than a man in firefighting gear. Trevor even had his photo in a pinup calendar the fire department sold to raise funds. Dating him made me feel important.

  The thing is, Trevor and I had never got past that goodnight kiss. Then again, if I stopped standing him up, we might end up in bed.

  Matt and I reached the top of Little Mountain. “Stop here,” I told him, pointing at a turnout in the road. “This is the place.” I could feel it. “I saw Amber by the cliff. I saw the lights of the town below.”

  Matt pulled over, and I stepped out onto the gravel road. The forest around us smelled of pine. Snow had begun to fall. We were supposed to get several inches that night, the first real snowfall of the season.

  I led Matt down a narrow path through the woods to the edge of the cliff. This was the viewpoint, overlooking the town of Black Lake. Young lovers often parked here. Teens partied here. Every couple of years, some drunk kid stepped off this cliff to his death.

  “This is the place,” I told Matt. Below us, the lights of town glittered around Black Lake as sunset painted the clouds orange. The view was exactly what I’d seen in my vision, but Amber wasn’t there.

  “She was lying right here.” I pointed at the ground where the pine needles were swept to the side.

  “Someone—or something—has been here recently,” Matt said. “Could have been a deer taking a nap. Could have been kids making out.”

  “Amber could have been here too, right?” I asked.

  In answer, Matt cupped his hands to his mouth. “Amber,” he cried. “Amber!” We both listened, hoping for a reply. There wasn’t one.

  “She was unconscious,” I said. “She couldn’t answer our call.”

  “We don’t know that,” said Matt. “And she’s not here, is she? If she was unconscious, how did she walk away?” His face was grim. Now he really didn’t believe me.

  “She was here,” I told him. “Could she have fallen from the cliff ?”

  “There are no footprints or any sign that anyone has been
over there.”

  I peered at the ground, hoping to find a footprint to show him. “Check this out,” I said, following the path. The forest floor was swept from the viewpoint all the way back to the road. “Looks like something heavy was dragged out of here,” I told Matt.

  I shuddered at the thought. Did someone—or something—drag Amber away? “You don’t think a bear got her, do you?” I asked.

  “First you thought a kidnapper took Amber, now a bear.” Matt shook his head. “You’re really fishing for news, aren’t you? Isn’t the story of a lost girl enough?”

  “It’s not like that,” I said. “I don’t care about the news story. I just want to find Amber. I know she was here.”

  I hunted for clues, something to make Matt believe me. There was nothing. Only those drag marks through the pine needles. “She must have been moved,” I said. “What if it wasn’t a bear? What if a person dragged her away?”

  “Your kidnapper?” Matt raised an eyebrow like he thought I was a fool.

  “Yes!” I said. “There must be someone else involved.” I scanned the road. There were fresh tire tracks in the mud. “There was another vehicle here recently.”

  “So a bunch of dumb kids came up here to party. They dragged their beer cooler back to their car. Mystery solved.”

  I was nearly in tears, I was so frustrated. “I know there is more going on here,” I told him. “I know it.”

  Matt put a hand on my shoulder. “Amber went for a walk and got lost. This is a huge forest. Even experienced hikers get lost here. We rescue them every year.”

  “She’s not simply lost.”

  Matt held out both hands. “How do you know?”

  I shook my head. “I can’t tell you. I don’t know how I know. I just know.”

  Matt opened the door to his truck. “All right, that’s enough,” he said. “We’re leaving.”

  He got in and slammed his door shut, leaving me outside. I searched one last time for a clue to offer him, but I didn’t find anything. Finally, I got in the truck.

  We drove back to the search-and-rescue camp in silence. Matt parked the truck by his command unit, the old bus. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I was so sure Amber was up there.”

  Matt got out of the truck without saying a word.

  “Can I hold the jacket one more time?” I called out to him. “Maybe I’ll see more detail in my vision this time. Maybe I’ll see where she was moved to.”

  Matt turned to me. “Go home, Claire.” He shooed me away. “Or go have that date with Trevor.”

  “I want to help.” I tottered after him in my silly heels. “You don’t understand. I need to help.”

  “There’s nothing you can do.”

  “Please,” I said. I took his arm, gripping it harder than I meant to. “I have to be here. I’m supposed to be here.”

  Even as I said that, I knew how nutty I sounded. I had no idea where Amber was at that moment. I couldn’t explain those visions. Still, the feeling I had was so powerful. I knew Amber would die that night if I didn’t help find her.

  Matt stared down at his arm until I removed my hand. “I want you out of my camp,” he told me. “Now.”

  FIVE

  After I left the search-and-rescue camp, I went straight to my mom’s house. I had to tell her about the vision I’d just had. Maybe she could help me figure out what to do. “Claire!” Mom said as she opened the door. “What a nice surprise.” Mom was sixty-something but still fit. Yoga was her thing. She made a living teaching classes in her living room. In her black T-shirt and yoga pants, she appeared a lot younger than she was.

  She waved me into the kitchen. “Didn’t you have a date tonight?” she asked.

  “I never made it to the restaurant,” I said.

  I swung my camera bag onto the kitchen table. Mom ran her business from here. This table was her desk. I shifted her laptop computer over a little and sat.

  “You stood Trevor up again?” Mom asked. “For heaven’s sake, Claire. He’s the only man who’s asked you out in a year. I do want grandchildren, you know.”

  “I know, I know. Now I’m afraid to phone him.”

  “You didn’t let Trevor know you weren’t coming?”

  “No. I meant to, and then all this shit happened.” Mom eyed me primly. I was thirty-one, and she still gave me hell for swearing. “All this stuff happened,” I corrected myself.

  “It’s a wonder he didn’t call you,” Mom said.

  “Yeah,” I said, growing angry. “Why didn’t Trevor call me?” I searched my camera bag for my phone to see if he had. Maybe in the confusion of the evening, I had simply missed his call. Then I realized I had left my cell plugged in and charging at home.

  “Interesting,” Mom said.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You ‘forget’ to call Trevor. You leave your phone at home so he can’t call you. You clearly don’t want Trevor to reach you.”

  “I like Trevor,” I said.

  “I’m just saying maybe there’s a reason you stand him up so often.”

  I pointed at the camera bag sitting on the table between us. “My job is the problem,” I said. “If I see news, I have to get the story. I’m simply busy, that’s all.”

  “Trevor is a volunteer firefighter, Claire. He runs his own car-repair shop. He’s busy. Yet he always turns up for your dates.”

  I thought for a moment. Mom was probably right. I did keep avoiding my dates with Trevor. But why? Trevor was good-looking, kind and a firefighter.

  “So why didn’t you get to your date with Trevor this time?” Mom asked. “What was the big news story?”

  I told Mom about the gut feeling that led me to that burning car. Then I explained how I ended up at the search-and-rescue camp. I told her about my visions of Amber and my trip up the mountain with Matt. “I know what I saw in those visions was real,” I said. “I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you when you told me about your visions.”

  She patted my hand. “That’s okay, dear. No one else believed me either. You have to experience the visions yourself to understand.”

  “That’s just the thing,” I said. “Matt doesn’t believe me. Who will?” I cradled my head in my hands. “I know Amber will die if I don’t find her. The question is, what do I do now?”

  “You haven’t eaten anything this evening, have you?”

  “No,” I said.

  “You can’t think on an empty stomach. I’ll make you something.”

  I mulled over the events of the evening as she threw together a cheese sandwich. “The vision scared me,” I said.

  “You feel like you’re not in control of your own mind,” Mom said.

  “Yes!”

  “I know. You will get used to it, over time.”

  “Why is this happening to me? Why now?”

  Mom shrugged. “Who knows? Your grandmother had visions. So did your aunt May. All the women on my side of the family had the gift.”

  “It doesn’t feel like a gift,” I said. “I know it’s selfish to think about it right now, but I’m afraid my reputation is ruined. Matt thinks I’m crazy. The whole town will hear about my visions now. Everyone will think I’m a flake.”

  “Like me,” Mom said.

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “You didn’t have to.” She handed me the sandwich. “In any case, I don’t think you have to worry about your reputation. I knew Matt’s father. He hated gossips. I suspect Matt is a lot like him. Matt has never told anyone about the visions I had.”

  “He told me. He said he wouldn’t take your calls anymore.”

  “Well, he damn well should. I knew where that Evans boy ran off to last month. I knew where that awful man hid that little girl in 2011—well, at least before he moved her. I knew where that teenager drowned during the summer of 2012.”

  “Matt didn’t find the body where you said it would be.”

  Mom crossed her arms. “I said I knew where she drowned, not where her body
ended up, downriver.”

  I pushed the sandwich away. I didn’t feel like eating now. “Matt didn’t believe you any of those times. He still doesn’t.”

  “People rarely do. You’ll find you can’t stop yourself from trying to help anyway. You’ll feel driven to.”

  “Like I do right now,” I said.

  Mom patted my hand. “You need to go. You must find that girl.”

  “I can’t go back to the search-and-rescue camp. Matt won’t listen. I’ll only embarrass myself even more.”

  “You can’t let this go,” Mom said. “A girl’s life is at stake.” She paused. “And you have a chance here to prove that neither of us is crazy.”

  She was right. My mother’s honor was also on the line, not just my own. If my vision helped me find Amber, maybe Matt and the rest of the town would take our visions seriously. But all of that didn’t matter now. I just wanted to find Amber.

  “I don’t know what to do,” I said. “Matt kicked me out of the camp.”

  “So don’t go back there—at least, not right away.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t follow.”

  “You said Amber’s mom was at home. Stop in on her. Ask for a personal item that might trigger another vision. Choose something Amber wears a lot. That works best.”

  I laughed. This all sounded so unlikely. Here I was, talking with my mom about how to spark a vision. “Any more tips?” I asked, making a joke of it.

  Mom wasn’t in a joking mood. “You can’t force yourself to have a vision,” she told me. “You must be relaxed. Hold the personal item. Then breathe deeply and allow your mind to take you where you need to go.”

  “You’re asking me to meditate on the object?”

  “Well, yes.”

  “Helen will definitely think I’m crazy,” I said.

  “Of course she will,” said Mom. “You’ll just have to find a way to convince her you’re not.”

  SIX

  Amber’s mom lived in the apartment above the bakery she owned. I rang the bell at the bottom of the stairs and waited. I rang again. Eventually, I heard slow footsteps coming down the stairs.