Dadgummit

by Maggie Toussaint

  “Shouldn’t be too bad.” He flashed me a wolfish grin. “I’ll help you check for ticks.”

  The idea alarmed me, but not as much as it should’ve. “Charlotte can help me.”

  “Understood.”

  His eyes radiated disappointment, but I wouldn’t be part of his wish-fulfillment program.

  He handed me a water bottle, a mini flashlight, cable ties, and an energy bar. “Take these with you.”

  “You think it’ll be dark before we’re return?”

  He slung a compact backpack over his shoulder. “I like to be prepared.”

  I stashed the light, cable ties, and snack in my pockets, but I had to carry the water bottle. I followed him around the pine and up a meandering trail barely wide enough for a deer. As a precaution, I did a life-signs sweep in our general vicinity. No pingbacks. Just as well. There were too many trees here to be constantly worried about our personal security. I’m sure Mayes hoped we’d get a lead on Jonas out here, but this place seemed so far off the grid. I couldn’t imagine how he would access it.

  Soon a faded shanty with a crooked chimney came into view. I stopped. “I recognize this place. From my first Haney dreamwalk. This is where he lived with his family.”

  “Ms. Smith said she hadn’t touched anything in the cabin. She bought the property at auction because it connected two other tracts she owned.”

  I hurried forward. The door leaned open, half off its hinges. Leaves littered the rough-planked floor. Both front windows were busted out. Inside, a three-legged stool sat by a blackened hearth. Nothing about this place felt cozy or welcoming.

  My gaze continued around the small space. A filthy mattress lay shredded to one side of the room. Something had nested in there. A rickety ladder led to a tiny loft overhead.

  This place was poverty squared. “Poor Haney,” I said. “He lived in the middle of nowhere with nothing.”

  Mayes finished quartering the space and shrugged. “No electricity, no running water. Hard to believe people lived here in this century.”

  “With Haney’s family situation and his nonstandard mental wiring, he never had a chance.”

  Mayes prowled around the small dwelling. “Other than the mattress, which I’ll check in a minute, there’s no place down here to hide anything. I see no books or papers or personal items. Nothing that ties Jonas to Haney.”

  “When I had the dreamwalk about this place, Haney watched the other kids from above. The loft was probably his space. I’ll climb up and take a look.”

  “Wait. Let me test the ladder first.”

  A protest lodged in my throat, but I realized Mayes couldn’t help it. He was programmed to serve and protect. He pulled on several of the rungs before he pronounced it safe.

  Setting my water bottle down on the plank floor, I guarded my senses before I climbed the ladder. Stray bits of strong emotion could jolt me through my hands if I didn’t shield myself, and I wanted no surprises. Upstairs, an intact twin mattress rested on the floor. Unlike below, this area was tidy and free of debris. The rumpled blanket on the mattress looked new. To one side were three dog-eared children’s books and a stack of little notebooks.

  “Mayes! I got something.”

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Ignoring the dusty books, I picked up a little notebook. Simple images were drawn on each page. Flipbooks. I remembered them from Haney’s first dreamwalk. In this one, a small stick figure waved goodbye to a larger one in a dress. The smaller figure waited for a bit then cried.

  “Mayes,” I called again. “Come up here. You gotta see this stuff.”

  From what I knew of Haney’s personal history, this flipbook was the story of his mother leaving. I viewed several more, seeing the stories of other boys chasing him, of his father drinking and breaking furniture. Poor Haney.

  I heard a muffled noise below. Ignored it. Mayes knew how to climb a ladder. I’d been shielded long enough. Would each flipbook launch me into a different dreamwalk? Or should I examine the blanket with my extra senses fired up to see if Jonas had been staying here?

  Decisions.

  The house felt oddly quiet. Vacant, somehow. That emptiness scared me. I shrunk into myself and tried to think. Something had happened below, and I’d missed it. With my pulse thrumming in my ears, I crept to the loft’s rail and peered below.

  The deputy chief lay, face down, on the floor.

  “Mayes!” I said in a strangled whisper. A healthy man like Mayes wouldn’t collapse on his own. I transitioned to my extra senses and found what I dreaded. Someone was moving away from this place at a dead run. The person was not traveling in the direction of Mayes’ vehicle, but up-mountain.

  No other life signs were in the area.

  Moving quickly, I tossed the flipbooks over the rail and hurried down the ladder. I checked Mayes’ pulse. Strong. He was alive. No blood. No obvious sign of injury. I jiggled his shoulders gently and called his name. No response. His respirations were deep, but I couldn’t rouse him. He was sleeping, like Twilla Sue.

  Certainty slammed into me. Jonas had been here. He’d zapped Mayes and drained a measure of his energy while I was in the loft. My job had been to protect this deputy against Jonas, and I’d failed him. I blinked back tears and tried to formulate a plan of action.

  I called Charlotte. “Deputy Duncan with you?” I asked when she answered.

  “He is.”

  “May I speak to him? It’s about Mayes.”

  Deputy Duncan came on the line. “Duncan.”

  “It’s Mayes. Jonas got to him when I wasn’t looking, knocked him out. I can’t bring him around. He’s sleeping like Twilla Sue.”

  “Does he need an ambulance?”

  “He has no external injury I can find. Look, we’re a long way in the woods, at the shack where Haney Haynesworth grew up. Dispatch has the GPS coordinates. I can’t tell you what to do, but I’m leaving Mayes here while I track Jonas. I’ll be back soon as I can.”

  “Wait!”

  I ended the call and muted the ringer. The phone buzzed in my back pocket, but I didn’t have time to discuss anything. Before I went after Jonas, however, I could help Mayes with a jolt of energy. That felt right and necessary.

  The only way I knew to share my life force was the way Jonas stole the energy from his victims. The image of Jonas straddling White Feather came to mind. He’d placed his palm on her palms before he’d kissed the life out of her.

  I would have to kiss Mayes while holding his hands. Except it wouldn’t be a real kiss. It would be the breath of life. This wasn’t cheating on my missing husband. This was life support for a friend in need.

  Carefully, I attempted to roll Mayes onto his back. He didn’t so much as grunt or tighten up when I put my hands on him. He didn’t roll either. It was like trying to move a refrigerator without wheels. Soon I forgot my qualms about touching him and used my shoulder to push his shoulder over. I positioned his arms by his sides.

  Then it was time to straddle his torso. Mayes was lean, but his hips fit mine in a disturbingly intimate way. Don’t think about that, I cautioned myself. Do it and get out of here. You have to stop Jonas. You’re the only one who can.

  My left palm snugged against his right, my right palm against his left. I interlaced our fingers as I’d seen Jonas do in the dreamwalks. Another disturbing wave of tingles shot through my body. Was intimacy part of the thrill for Jonas? Did he get off on killing people?

  Worse, was I like him?

  I was nothing like him, and I wasn’t stealing anything from Mayes. I focused on the warmth of our palms, willing my energy to flow into him. Our palms heated even more, but his sleep remained deep. I sent him a silent plea, which I knew the physical contact would magnify. Mayes, wake up!

  No response. I licked my lips, knowing what must come next. I also knew I couldn’t block my senses. For this to work, I had to open all of myself to him. I’d never been that open or vulnerable before, not even with my husband. We’d shared living space
and hopes and dreams, but not our entire selves.

  And Roland was the only man I’d ever kissed.

  Not a kiss, I reminded myself. I was not in a relationship with Mayes. I was attempting to revive him, and I needed to get to it before Jonas fled the area.

  I could do this. This was nothing more than extrasensory CPR. Holding onto that thought, I leaned forward and touched my lips to his. I squeezed with my fingers, willing more energy into his prone body.

  Not working.

  I opened my senses to the experience, absorbing the throb of his pulse into mine. It seemed as if I were in his body and mine at the same time. The sense of intimacy overwhelmed me, and I worked harder at kissing him.

  The room wavered, and we plunged together into a dreamwalk. Only it was like no dreamwalk I’d ever taken. Mayes and I were in a waterfall, kissing, and our passion was mutual. I had the sense of coming alive, of my feminine nature surging and demanding release. God help me, I held nothing back, caressing as I was caressed, kissing as I was kissed.

  A glimmer of self-awareness flickered. I tried to disentangle myself and gain some objectivity. “Mayes, this isn’t real.”

  “Speak for yourself,” he muttered against my neck. “I’ve wanted to do this ever since I met you. I knew it would be like this between us.”

  “We shouldn’t. We’re on a case.”

  “We’re together, as we were meant to be.” He stopped touching me, held my gaze. Water flowed around us. “Tell me you want this. Tell me you want me.”

  “I’m married, and this is a dream. I need you to wake up.”

  “I like this dream.”

  He showed me how much he liked the dream.

  My body responded in kind, but I pushed away, moving out of the waterfall spray. “Mayes. Jonas did this to you.”

  He stalked toward me, extending his hand. “Remind me to thank him later. Kiss me again.”

  “We shared energy. I gave you a boost. You have the power to break free of this dream.”

  “Why would I want to wake up? You’re here with me.”

  “I have to go. I have to catch Jonas before he hurts someone else.”

  Mayes’ eyes clouded. “Stay. I need you.”

  “I can’t. This,” I gestured between us, “this can’t be. Our lives run on different paths.”

  “You are powerful medicine, Walks With Ghosts. I would be honored to call you mine.”

  Oh, dear. “I’m flattered—more than flattered—and I never intended to lead you on. But this is just a dream. We can’t do this in the physical world. Let me be clear. I won’t do this in the real world.”

  “And yet you’re here in my dreams.”

  He was getting closer. If I stayed, I’d be trapped in his pseudo-reality. “Wake up, Mayes. You have the power.”

  As I transitioned back to reality, I heard him call for me. “Baxley! Where’d you go?”

  I came awake abruptly, as if I’d swum too deep and barely made it back to the surface. The first thing I did was scramble off Mayes. He didn’t move so much as an eyelash. He didn’t reach for me.

  It was all a dream. A crazy mixed-up fantasy concocted by two overworked people. I couldn’t possibly have feelings for him. The lightheadedness and pounding heartbeat were side effects of the transfer.

  For a split second, I allowed myself to believe the intimacy had been heartfelt. The sensations had felt more than real. They’d been epic. I wouldn’t soon forget the intensity of being connected to Mayes in his dream.

  Would he?

  Chapter Fifty

  I summoned my ghost dog, and Oliver appeared beside me. I pointed to the door. “Find Jonas.”

  Oliver barked happily and darted outside, nose to the ground. I followed, Beretta in hand. Jonas would not get away this time. The path Oliver took snaked and turned back on itself until I didn’t know if I was coming or going. At one point, I brushed the cobwebs off my face and wondered how a ghost dog could follow the scent trail of an energy vampire.

  But if he’d done it at White Feather’s death site, he could do it here.

  The grade steadily increased, and my calves strained. We were headed uphill. If I didn’t find Jonas, I might be lost in these woods for a very long time. My cellphone stopped buzzing. I pulled it out and checked the display. No signal.

  Great. If I got in a jam, I had only my paranormal defenses to rely upon.

  My thoughts veered back to Mayes. Would our virtual kiss present a problem for the real us? Had I cheated on my husband if the kiss happened in the dream world?

  My husband. Roland lingered in my mind and my heart. Though the military had declared him dead, I didn’t believe it. But each passing day strained that belief.

  Stop. Don’t invite trouble. Focus on one issue at a time. Right now you’re tracking an energy vampire.

  Gritting my teeth, I slogged through the underbrush, unable to pass silently, not with all the briars and bushes in my way. Twigs and sticks crackled underfoot and small branches snapped as I followed my ghostly guide. I wished like anything I’d remembered to bring that water bottle on this trek.

  How had Jonas gotten through all this foliage without breaking branches? Mayes had called him a phantom, and it seemed Jonas knew things he shouldn’t. Could he physically transport himself from one place to another? I couldn’t think of any plausible answer to that question. With no reasonable answers, only the bizarre ones remained. His spiriting himself around made sense but it wasn’t humanly possible. Which led to another question.

  Was Jonas even human? He looked like an ordinary person, but he performed extraordinary feats. He knew we were actively searching for him. If he was so powerful, why didn’t he move on? Did something hold him here?

  Clearly, Jonas had his own agenda, one that involved staying beneath the radar of law enforcement. Except that I wasn’t law enforcement. Perhaps he considered me a threat.

  If that was so, why wait until now to come after me?

  Ahead, the path abruptly opened into a clearing about the size of half a tennis court. A chunk of mountain stood on the opposite side. Oliver darted ahead in the open space and ran back toward me. Stepping into the open area would make me an easy target. I lowered my guard to search the area for life signs. Someone was hiding directly ahead of me, secreted in the mountain.

  The energy signature felt familiar. It wavered slightly like Jonas’ had done. I edged behind an oak. The person had to be Jonas, which meant I should be on my toes. From what I’d seen, Jonas was one of a kind, but he might have allies.

  I stooped to pet the ghost dog. “Good boy, Oliver.”

  The Great Dane rubbed against me and faded from sight. He was still with me, but not in the visible spectrum. Time for me to regroup.

  Now that I’d stopped moving, my heart raced and my breaths came in ragged gasps. I didn’t know what I’d be facing, but I sure as heck wouldn’t run away. This was my battle. I used my extra senses to make sure I wasn’t outnumbered.

  The answer soon became apparent. Except for Jonas, I was alone, with no way to call for backup. Distance-wise, the only possible person I could reach through telepathy was Mayes. I wasn’t even sure if he could receive me now that we weren’t touching. But I sent the message and a mental image of my surroundings anyway.

  I found Jonas. I need your help, Mayes. That dream of us isn’t real. The real me is out here on the mountain with a psychic vampire, and I need you. Come to me, Mayes.

  That would have to do for now.

  I rubbed my pendant. The touchstone centered me and bolstered my confidence. I might be out of my depth here, but my opponent didn’t know that.

  “Jonas Canyon,” I called in a loud, assertive voice from my hiding place. “Come out with your hands up. You are surrounded.”

  Not even a bird twittered. I heard the loud thump of my heart and that was it. “Jonas. You’re done. I’m here to take you in. Surrender and it will go much easier for you.”

  The late morning sunshine
lit up the grassy clearing, lending a surreal feeling to the moment. As matchups went, I hoped the odds favored a Dreamwalker over an energy vampire.

  I tried another tack. “I know exactly where you are. You can’t hide from me.”

  A slight breeze stirred the seeded heads of the grasses. No Jonas. He was on the other side of the clearing. He hadn’t moved a muscle since I’d locked onto his signal.

  I looked at my clenched hands on the gun grip. Could I point this weapon at a person and pull the trigger? I shuddered at the thought. All I needed to do was to secure him. Let’s hope it doesn’t come down to making a life or death decision.

  More minutes ticked off my life clock. With each passing second, my options boiled down to one. I had to go over there and get him. I didn’t like the idea of walking across the open area. If Jonas had a gun, I’d be easy pickings. I edged around to the left, a somewhat shorter route than the other direction.

  I hadn’t walked four steps before Jonas moved. He didn’t rush out to fight me. Instead, he retreated inside the mountain. His signal flickered and weakened.

  Instinct propelled me forward into the meadow. My strides lengthened to a run. I hadn’t come this far to lose track of this guy now. He was mine.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  The rock Jonas had been hiding behind flared with negative energy. I didn’t need to touch it to know a killer had been here. I was winded and wheezed in air as I surveyed the scene. Behind the rock, a person-sized fissure gaped in the mountain.

  Oliver materialized again by the crack and barked excitedly. Jonas had passed through the opening, but did I want to follow him? I could wait for him to come out. Except I didn’t know if the cave had another outlet, or if the opening itself was a gateway to another realm of existence.

  Waiting was not a good option if I expected to capture him. Sealing the opening might work, but I wasn’t strong enough to move a boulder. And what if there were another exit?

  I had no choice but to go in there after him.

  Why hadn’t I asked Mayes pointblank if he was a telepath? We’d just shared energy, so I had to believe an intangible link existed. In truth, Mayes was my only lifeline. I had to try. I shot him another message and a three-sixty panorama of my location. I don’t know if you’re reading me, but Jonas is here. I tracked him to this cave in the mountain. Here’s where I am. I sure hope you’re getting this because I’m going in after him. And thank you for giving me a flashlight. I’ll need it.