Dadgummit

by Maggie Toussaint

  The idea of being so intimately connected to Rose had the hair all over my body standing on end. At the same time, I felt like I’d taken a one-two punch to the gut. “Isn’t there another way?”

  “Unless you want your police friends to stay in zombie mode longer than would be healthy for them, I suggest you follow my orders. Immediately.”

  A look at Mayes and his fellow deputies frozen in time had me gulping. Rose had a way to help these people. Would I let a squeamish stomach and my pride get in the way? No. I was a bigger person than that.

  Rose’s skin felt creepy cold on my hands. When our lips touched, I blew with all my might, filling her with my breath. I broke away to gasp in more air. “Again,” Rose said. Soldier for humanity that I am, I obeyed. Only this time, Rose breathed into me.

  Fire burned down my throat, raged in my lungs, and sizzled in my blood. My knees gave way, and I sagged against her. She lowered me to the floor. The room spun, and I stared at her scowling face. It faded in and out of focus like a movie made by a toddler.

  “What did you do to me?” I asked.

  “I’ve marked you, inside and out.”

  It hurt to draw in breath. It hurt to talk, but I had to know. “Why?”

  “You know the reason. Excuse me while I fix the mess Lizella made.” Rose strolled down the hall and faded from sight. The room faded too, as darkness overtook me.

  * * *

  “Wake up, sleepyhead,” Mayes said.

  His worried face hovered above me. The events of the morning rushed into my head in a terrifying montage. I didn’t recognize the place, couldn’t remember how I got here. “Where am I?”

  “At the rehab center. You fell asleep as soon as we started searching for Lizella Tice. Guess I’m working you too hard.”

  I hadn’t fallen asleep. Rose knocked me out on purpose. After she’d marked me again. My mouth felt like it had been on a desert vacation. The chill of the floor seeped into my skin, but other than that, I seemed to be whole.

  “Is there water?” I asked.

  “You’d drink something here?”

  “Not the water I’m worried about,” I shot back. Loggins and Duncan peered over Mayes’ shoulder. They flashed me quick smiles, then their expressions hardened.

  Mayes nodded toward the door. “Loggins, grab Powell a water bottle from my vehicle while Duncan writes a report.”

  Loggins gave a terse nod and hurried away. I heard the door open and close.

  “No sign of her boss,” Duncan said. “We’ve been all over this place twice. No kid. No skinny old lady.”

  That answered my next question. Rose took what she wanted and left us to whitewash what had happened here. Fluorescent lights hummed faintly overhead. The pillow cushioning my head and the cold floor beneath me were real. I was alive. That was real.

  “We have only a minute or two before Loggins returns,” Mayes said as he faced me. “Tell us what really happened.”

  How’d he know? I tried to clear my dry throat. “You won’t find Lizella. My contact from beyond took her. That little kid was Lizella. With all the energy she’d tapped into here, she’d gone through a metamorphosis to a younger version of herself. She planned to spring Jonas from jail and start over elsewhere.”

  Mayes squeezed my hand. “Figured the threat was gone because nothing else explained why you were out cold when I turned around.” He paused long enough to catch my eye. “At some point, I want the whole story.”

  The pressure from his fingers caused my fingers to curl into his. How had I missed that he was holding my hand again? I shot him a quick glance, and he looked extra smug. At some point, I wanted to know how long he’d been awake and what he’d been doing.

  “How will this get spun?” I asked.

  “We’ll leave that for the health professionals to figure out. From a law enforcement perspective, our person of interest is missing. Except for four dead people, everyone else is sleeping.” He shot me a sharp look. “Since the threat has been removed, the rest of these people aren’t our problem.”

  I shrugged. “Not like I could share energy with anyone right now. I could sleep until morning.”

  The door opened. Loggins returned with four bottles of water. I sipped only a little bit at first, wary of my reaction. I didn’t know what Rose-breath had done to me, but I didn’t fancy throwing up in front of three men either.

  The men drank their water quickly. My body tolerated and made quick work of the water I’d swallowed. The slight headache I had eased, and I felt worlds better with something in my stomach. With everyone looking down on me, I felt at a disadvantage. I struggled to get free of Mayes, but he didn’t budge. “Take it easy,” he said. “Just a little while longer.”

  My hand was warm and so was my arm. Was he giving me a boost of his energy now? “I need to sit up.”

  Mayes nodded and Duncan lifted one side of me while he lifted the other, still keeping our hands connected. “Better?” he asked.

  I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. What did the other deputies think of me, of us? Had Mayes given them the impression we were a couple? Did I need his energy more than I needed to worry about saving face?

  A sigh escaped my lips. I saw a muscle twitch in Mayes’ cheek. My mood flashed from hopeful to cautious. Was he reading my thoughts?

  “Duncan, put out an APB on Tice,” he said, probably for Loggins’ benefit. “She’s a person of interest in the same crimes we nailed Jonas Canyon for. She’s no innocent, but the degree of her guilt is yet to be determined.”

  What would these cops think if they knew Lizella Tice was a mythical sea creature run amok? Surely they would dismiss that notion as fantasy even though it was the truth. I’d seen some crazy things in this job, but this case was in a league of its own.

  “Your color is coming back, Powell,” Mayes said. “Bet you’re glad this case is wrapping up.”

  I tried for the same light and breezy tone. “You have no idea. I’m going to need a vacation after this vacation.”

  “You and me both.”

  Sirens approached. Mayes ordered everyone to put the cloth masks in place, and he finally allowed me to stand. “You all right?” he asked in a tender voice.

  I nodded.

  “It’s about to get crazy in here. Once we get this sorted out, I’ll have Duncan run you back to the campsite.” He lifted my chin. “We’re going paddleboarding in the morning, right?”

  “My last day,” I said ruefully. “I promised my daughter.”

  “I’ll get you there. That’s a promise you can take to the bank.”

  Chapter Sixty-One

  My dreams that night were not my own, but nightmares were to be expected. Haney and White Feather walked hand in hand toward me and my ghost dog through the veil of fog. “You got her?” Haney asked.

  I nodded. “We did. Lizella Tice won’t hurt anyone again. Neither will Jonas.”

  “What if she finds us?” White Feather asked.

  “I think she will be too busy to chase down everyone they killed.”

  “Why’d they do it? Why’d they tell us it would be better when we died?” Haney asked.

  “You had something they wanted: life. The only way they could take it from you was if you gave it away. My understanding is that they had permission to take little bits here and there from people, but that was supposed to be their extraction limit.”

  “We were so unhappy,” White Feather said. “My family didn’t understand my need for self-expression. Haney is the only one who understood. When Jonas told us he had a way for us to be together for all time, we believed him.”

  They would be forever young and in love. Not bad, except for the dead part. “I’m glad you found each other up here.”

  Haney looked guilty. “Your friend helped us. The biker chick.”

  I smiled. Good for Rose. “Anything else I can do for you two?”

  “Tell my family I’m happy, really happy,” White Feather said. “I don’t have to be Native Am
erican or white or anything in between. I can just be myself up here.”

  “Will do.” I glanced at Haney. “And you? Any message for a loved one?”

  “All I’ve got is my mom, and she’s not anywhere you could find her.”

  “She’s with the Little People, right?”

  Haney scrunched up his face. “I thought Jonas was my friend. When I told him about my mom disappearing, he got real interested, and somehow he figured out how to cross into their world. He took me with him, but each time, it cost me. Mom was happy to see me, but nothing I said or did could persuade her to leave. I wanted her to come home and be with me, but she said no, that she’d found her place.” His lower lip jutted out. “By the time I figured out I couldn’t rescue her, Jonas pretty much owned me. He stole from the Little People, so I couldn’t even return to visit her. Once Mom was lost to me, I wanted to die. The only goodness I ever found in life was White Feather. We’re together now.”

  The final pieces fell into place. Jonas took advantage of Haney’s loneliness, bartering away bits of his life in exchange for visits to his mother. What child wouldn’t give anything to be with a parent? And while he was deciding to suicide, he connected with another lost soul, White Feather, and their needs aligned.

  Except this was no Romeo and Juliet who’d died because they couldn’t live without each other. This was the reverse. They’d died to be together. Only, if not for Rose, the joke would’ve been on them. They would have wandered around for several eternities and never crossed paths in the Afterlife. It was that big.

  “I wish you well,” I added when the silence had gone on too long.

  White Feather knelt to pet Oliver, my ghost dog. “I love your dog. Any chance he’s looking for a new home?”

  “He’s his own master these days, and he likes following me around. I would hate to lose his companionship, but if he wants to stay with you, that’s okay with me.”

  White Feather whispered some words in Oliver’s ear. He flapped his head and leaned against me. “He’s your dog all right,” she said, rising and taking Haney’s hand once more.

  “We won’t keep you, but we needed to say goodbye,” Haney added. “We have a job. With your friend.”

  “A job?” So Rose hadn’t done a good deed … she’d been thinking of her needs the whole time. My teeth ground together.

  “We’re greeters now, like in a discount department store,” White Feather said. “We welcome spirits to the afterlife and help them understand that they’re dead.”

  I brightened. That seemed like an excellent idea. “Good deal.”

  “We upset the balance by our actions. We learned our lives weren’t ours to end, but we’re working to get in His good graces.”

  “I’m happy for you.”

  White Feather cocked her head to a silent sound. “We have a customer.”

  They faded from view. I wondered if Rose would visit, since I was already in her realm. She didn’t show, so I figured she was busy elsewhere. I drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

  * * *

  I awakened so early, the sky still wore its cloak of night. Larissa cuddled next to me, along with all three dogs. Even Sulay the fat cat and little Ziggy curled against me. I grinned in the darkness. Warmth and love trumped death and dying every time. For a long moment, I listened to the sound of Charlotte’s even breathing across the camper. We’d come up here to get away and relax, but this serene setting had been anything but peaceful.

  Thanks to Mayes and Rose, we’d stopped a tag team of serial killers. Stopped them cold. The thought made me smile, even as I realized how the trip had changed me. For one thing, I’d learned about energy transfer. I had long known some people would drain energy from people around them, but never in my wildest dreams had I thought I might possess that ability.

  Not that I would ever steal energy from another person. That wasn’t right. The natural order of things and all that. I was starting to see there was a Big Picture I didn’t comprehend. A symphony of actions going on in the world that ensured life wasn’t completely random. Except for the fact we humans could mess it up, especially if we ignored our path.

  Apparently the natural order for me was to be a dreamwalker, and that designation encompassed a whole lot of territory. The more I knew about Rose, the leerier I was of her, but I needed her, the same as she needed boots on the ground on my side of the veil. That natural order thing again.

  And my hair. White as snow, like my grandma’s had been. Like my father’s was now. I’d seen terrifying sights and been marked by the trauma. The natural order. Funny how my thoughts kept coming back to that phrase.

  Where did the Little People fit in the natural order? They weren’t of this world or the next. Before this week, I would have scoffed at the notion of the existence of Little People and creatures like Lizella Tice. Not anymore.

  Seeing was believing.

  Which brought me full circle to Roland. I’d thought my presumed-dead husband was still alive because he hadn’t found me in the realm of the living or the dead. He could easily be someplace else, a possibility I’d never considered before this experience. And if he existed elsewhere, was he trapped or there by choice? How would I ever find him in a universe with unlimited possibilities?

  At the murmur of voices outside, I leaned across the bed and peered through the thin curtain. My parents were outside, talking with Deputies Mayes and Duncan. My pulse kicked up its heels. I had questions for Mayes, questions I couldn’t ask in the presence of my daughter.

  I eased from the bed, but the animals and Larissa awakened anyway at my movement.

  “Mom! Are you leaving?” my daughter asked, reaching for me.

  The fright in her voice triggered a double dose of maternal guilt. “It’s early. Go back to sleep.”

  “Not yet. Cuddles?”

  “Cuddles.” I hugged her close, reveling in her perfection. She was growing up fast. Seemed like if I blinked, I might miss her teen years altogether. I nuzzled her hair. “Love ya.”

  “Love ya back. I’m proud of you, Mom. You’re the best.”

  Her praise made my insides hum. “I don’t know about that, but I try hard. Has it been fun in the mountains?”

  “Yeah, but I’m ready to go home.”

  I wiggled her nose. “Not before our paddleboarding adventure this morning.”

  “We don’t have to do that.”

  “Yes, we do. I want to, and I’m sorry your request got delayed. This case was more involved than any of us thought.”

  “You stopped them. You made it so the bad guys can’t hurt anyone.”

  “This pair definitely won’t steal energy ever again. And I didn’t do it by myself. I had help. Lots of it.”

  Larissa pulled back and searched my face in the near darkness. “The cops couldn’t have caught them without you.”

  “I suppose, though I’m sure, given enough time, they’d have found a way to catch this team.”

  Larissa shook her head. “They found the guy right away and couldn’t hold him. Don’t be modest. You closed this case. You’ve got game.”

  “I can’t take credit for justice being served. I couldn’t have done it alone either. Please don’t glamorize what I do.”

  “But I want to be just like you. I want to make the world safe.”

  “It isn’t easy, and it takes a huge toll.”

  Larissa giggled. “Like your hair?”

  “My hair. Yep. The universe has a warped sense of humor.”

  “It’s okay, Mom. You totally rock that look. I like the new you.”

  “The new me is still your mother. Don’t you ever forget that.”

  “I won’t.”

  “I need to talk with Pap and Mama Lacey about the case. They are amazingly close-mouthed about Pap’s dreamwalker experience, but I hope he can help me process some of what went on this weekend.”

  “Will you tell me about it?”

  “One day.”

  “Look who’s closemouthed no
w.”

  The things I’d seen and done did not need to be rattling around in a ten-year-old’s head. “You deserve to keep your childhood innocence a little longer. I wish I could shield you even more. At your age, you don’t need to know about bad guys. Most kids your age are focused on friends, clothes, or hobbies.”

  “I’m not most kids.”

  “Agreed. But I’m doing my best to make sure you enjoy being a kid. I want to do a good job of being your mom.” I sat up and tucked the covers around her. “You stay here in this nice, cozy pile with Maddy, Elvis, Muffin, Ziggy, and Sulay. Dream of your favorite things.”

  “ ’Kay.”

  I dressed in the bathroom and hurried outside.

  Mayes heard me right away and stood beside the campfire. His eyes, so shuttered and unreadable when I first met him, now glowed with feeling. The corners of his lips slanted up. I should discourage his interest, but the part of me that had been asleep a long time had awakened. My pulse quickened, my step lightened.

  I could’ve slid into the circle beside my mother, but I walked around to the side by Mayes. He gave up the cushion where he’d been sitting and parked on the ground beside me.

  We chatted for a few minutes, with Duncan keeping his gaze on the camper. His continued interest boded well for Charlotte, and I hoped their budding relationship brought them both happiness.

  As if he’d conjured her up, Charlotte strolled out of the camper in her PJs with a blanket around her shoulders and declared she wanted to see sunrise over the lake. Duncan took off with her like a shot, and we were alone with my parents.

  Mayes took my hand in his. “I want to know what happened. Every detail.”

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  “If you want to know what happened, you’ll have to stand in line,” I said, enjoying the touch of his hand. “I have questions for my dad.”

  “Thought you might,” my father said.

  I took a deep breath. “I get why you didn’t tell me everything about this job. It would be overwhelming to take in all that information at once. This case was so different. My eyes were opened to things I’d never seen before. Let’s start with energy transfer. Is that why you guys always gather at my place after a case, to share your energy with me?”