Hide'n_Go_Seek

by Mayer, Dale

  Hide'n Go Seek

  Book #2 of Psychic Visions

  Amazon Edition

  Copyright 2010 Dale Mayer

  Discover other titles by Dale Mayer at Amazon.com

  Tuesday's Child

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidences either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Amazon Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Preview of Maddy's Floor

  About the Author

  CHAPTER ONE

  Death shouldn't be so greedy. Everyone came to him eventually.

  Kali Jordan surveyed the wet gray rubble, her heart aching with sorrow. Three days ago this giant pile of debris had been a small but thriving Mexican town. Today it was a deathtrap.

  Thunder rumbled across the mountain. She squinted at the black clouds gathering on the horizon. The disaster site had been treacherous before the earthquake, yet if the approaching storm deluged the area as predicted, search and rescue conditions would deteriorate even more.

  Rubbing her throbbing temple, she dropped her gaze to the crumpled mass of concrete and glass ahead of her. So many people missing and, as always, so little time to help them. Shiloh, her longhaired Labrador Retriever, had worked this same quadrant all morning with the concentration and focus typical of her breed. This afternoon, however, her tail drooped. Kali could relate.

  Strong muscles bunched as Shiloh ascended another boulder. Her bright orange canine SAR vest stood out against the dusty gray backdrop. Even dirty, the vest was striking enough to be visible. Although Shiloh's fur was an unusual fox red, the grime had an equalizing effect, coating everyone and everything with a uniform layer of dust.

  An aftershock rattled the ground, shifting the pile under the dog's sturdy feet. Shiloh scrabbled to stay upright. Kali's heart stopped for a second, her breath catching in her throat. The earth stilled. Shiloh caught her balance and kept going. Kali waited an extra moment before exhaling. She didn't want to be here. Everyone else was working on a different quadrant. Her intuition - her grandma called it The Sight - had insisted she search here. She'd learned a long time ago to listen. But that didn't mean she liked where it sent her.

  Shiloh barked.

  Ignoring her headache, Kali hopped over the mess of ripped supports and roofing. Shiloh barked again, then sat on her haunches, head high. She wagged her tail, sweeping away the dirt around her.

  She'd found a survivor.

  Excitement bloomed. Unbelievable warmth surrounded Kali's heart. A miracle after three days in this heat, and one sorely needed to boost the exhausted Search and Rescue members' flagging optimism. A rush of adrenaline sent her surging up the next pile of rubble.

  A large block shifted, tossing Kali sideways. She scrambled to recover her footing. Shiloh yipped, her version of are you okay? Kali grinned at her when she'd righted herself. "I'm fine, girl. Not to worry."

  Jumping onto a different cement slab, Kali climbed ever higher to where Shiloh waited.

  "Hey, Kali, what have you got?"

  Turning, Kali spotted her best friend and fellow SAR member Brad, with his German shepherd, Sergeant.

  "Shiloh's found a survivor here." Kali reached for the next handhold.

  "Really? Hang on. I'm on my way." With his long strides, Brad covered the height differences in the piles within seconds. Sergeant passed them both as he jumped up to join Shiloh. He barked and sat on his haunches.

  "Good Lord, this is great to see." Brad's voice brimmed with energized exhilaration. Holding out a hand, he helped Kali up the steep slope of a broken wall. "We passed that all important 48-hour window this morning. I hate this stage of the search."

  "Especially here." From her high position, Kali stared at the surrounding chaos while she caught her breath. Many disaster sites had huge influxes of help from the global community. Many sites had organization, management of some sort, experienced people to move resources and offer assistance to the survivors. Many sites - not this one. Mexico had more than its share of calamities. The weather and location had hampered rescue efforts with fog, forcing the helicopters back, preventing them from landing. Kali and Brad, along with Jarl and Jordan, another set of old hands in this game, were one of the few groups on the spot. The roads had washed out after their arrival, hampering the army's efforts.

  Both dogs whined.

  Kali took a deep breath and kept climbing. Her muscles ached with tension. The rubble shifted again. "Shit," she whispered. "It's touch and go."

  "I know. Slow and steady. Let's assess whether we can do this on our own or if we need to bring a crew over."

  Not that there were many crews to call.

  Disorganization ruled here. Survivors scrambled in desperation to find their lost family members, along with the assistance of the few volunteers who had made the trek to help. The army would probably arrive in time to organize recovery operations. Meanwhile, everyone was doing what they could at a location where just being on site was a huge risk. The ground trembled with aftershocks several times a day, shifting the wobbly debris under their feet.

  Kali finally reached Shiloh. Digging into her fanny pack, she removed Shiloh's reward, her black and white well-chewed teddy bear. Shiloh gently grasped her cuddly toy before bounding to ground level where she lay down to rest, her bear snuggled under her chin. Brad sent Sergeant to join her.

  Peering through the helter-skelter heap of broken flooring and walls, Kali heard a faint voice. She studied the small pocket of darkness off to the left. "Hello? Is anyone there? Can you hear me?"

  The tiny feminine echo bounced upwards. "Si."

  Kali let out a whoop. "It's a child. Brad, call for help."

  Brad searched the surrounding area to see if anyone was within shouting distance. Several people scrambled toward them. He signaled for assistance then turned back to her. "A team is on the way. Does she speak English?"

  She shrugged. Peering into the dark opening, Kali squinted at what appeared to be a young girl in the murky shadows. Slowly, a small face came into focus. A small hand waved up at her. "She's pointing at her leg. Ah. I see it now. Her leg is broken just below the knee." Kali called to the girl, "What's your name?"

  The high weak voice trembled in a new spat of Spanish.

  From Kali's poor Spanish, she thought the child said her name was Inez. She could only hope Inez was old enough to understand what had happened and not panic. Although if Kali were the one stuck in that hole, she'd be panicking plenty.


  The girl stared up, fear and hope warring on her face. Kali's heart ached. She looked so tiny. So alone. She had to be terrified. Hell, Kali was terrified.

  Needing to help in some way, Kali tried to reassure the child by speaking in a calm steady voice. "Take it easy, Inez. Help is here. Don't try to move." The little one might not understand the words, yet the smile and easy voice would help her to relax.

  A noisy hub of activity heralded the arrival of several other workers. Lilting voices flowed as singsong conversation bubbled between the suddenly animated girl and the crew. A hubbub of activity commenced. Brad grabbed Kali's arm, pulling her out of the way.

  She frowned, but let herself be moved. She didn't want to leave Inez alone. She was too big to squeeze through the opening to the frightened child. On a separate slab twenty feet back, Brad and Kali watched as the crew went to work. The crowd on the ground swelled as news of a survivor spread. Spanish and English mixed into a confusing yet understandable wash of conversation. Kali tuned out most of it, staying focused on the yawning pit that held the promise of life...and the threat of death.

  A buzz of excitement rose as one of the smallest rescue team members descended on ropes. The opening was ringed with hardhats as everyone leaned over to watch. Kali shivered. Instinctively, she backed up several more steps, shifting to a different piece of cement. Brad followed.

  "What's the matter?" he whispered against her ear.

  "There're too many of them, too much weight. This could cave at any moment."

  Brad frowned as he surveyed the straining men muttering into the cavern. "There haven't been any major tremors for hours now. Maybe it's all over."

  Kali snorted, her eyes never leaving the action before them. "Right. And this could be a warm up for an even bigger one." Telling herself everything would be fine didn't help much either. Her instincts said otherwise. Holding her breath, she waited for someone to surface. It seemed to take hours. Kali knew the broken leg would need to be splinted. She knew the child would need to be secured into a harness. Fear knotted her gut. She knew all that. It didn't matter. A chill clutched her heart. She wanted to yell to the workers, “Hurry, hurry.” The earth grumbled again, a deadly reminder of the risk they all took.

  The band of workers stood, heaving on ropes. Slow painful inches at a time, the crew struggled to raise their load. The top of a head popped into view, followed by a very dirty, tired face with a pained smile shining through the grimy tear tracks. Cheers erupted from the crowd. The girl waved as the rescue team worked to bring her up the last few feet. Finally, her splinted leg rose into view.

  Kali gasped, her breath catching in her throat, her hands clenching and unclenching as fear dug its own claws into her more strongly. The child was almost there. Almost safe.

  A hard tremor rippled through the region.

  “Oh, God, no,” she whispered. “Please, not.”

  The crowd cried out. Their yells morphed into screams of horror.

  Grating sounds mingled with shouts and screams, followed by heavy grinding as rocks slid against each other, building to that one final destructive crash.

  Kali screamed, falling to one side as tons of shifting material sent her tumbling. Debris rained on top of her. Curled into a ball, she held both arms protectively over her head, crying out as a small block smacked her left arm. She thought she heard a cracking sound, but she was too busy scrambling toward Brad, who'd been tossed several feet below.

  "Brad. Brad! Are you okay?" Holding her injured arm against her chest, she leaned over him. Her heart stalled, then raced with relief when he swore and opened his eyes.

  He struggled to sit up, shaking off the stones and dirt covering him. "I'm fine." He took several deep breaths before struggling to his feet. "Your arm, is it bad?"

  She dismissed it with a wave of the hand on her uninjured arm. "It'll be fine."

  Shiloh barked.

  Tears of relief filled Kali’s eyes. She searched the area and spotted her several yards away Sergeant at her side. Thank God, they were fine.

  Brad helped Kali to stand. She winced. "Better your arm than your head. Come on. Let's get away from this hell hole."

  Kali realized suddenly that they'd ended up close to ground level. A horrible silence had fallen.

  As one mind, they pivoted to see how the rescuers had fared.

  A horrible sense of knowing clutched Kali. She yelled, lunging forward only to be caught and held tight in Brad's arms.

  "No, Kali. You can't go there. It's not over." His arms tightened as she struggled against the truth.

  The heap surrounding the black pit that had held the little girl was gone. Dust floated several feet into the air, blurring their view. The walls of the pit had imploded then heaped with more concrete and twisted steel, burying the area under tons of new debris.

  As the dust cleared, there was nothing to see.

  No equipment.

  No rescuers.

  No little girl in a rope harness.

  They were all gone.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Kali closed her eyes in a useless effort to ignore her surroundings. She hated hospitals, drugs, even doctors. Her parents had died after a car accident killed her father outright and left her mother barely hanging on to life for a few days before she succumbed to her injuries. Kali hadn't been in a hospital since.

  Today she'd had little choice.

  After the disastrous loss of the rescue workers and that poor little Mexican girl, Brad had taken control. He’d determined her arm was badly sprained, shipping her home with Shiloh crated and at her side. He'd stayed behind to continue the rescue efforts. Numb with shock, Kali remembered little of the trip home. Stan, her boss and mentor, had been waiting for her at the airport, his gray sparse hair sticking straight out in all directions as usual. He’d driven her directly to the hospital. Kali had been beyond arguing. Good thing, too, her left forearm was cracked, just below the elbow.

  The painkillers Brad had stuffed down her throat prior to loading her on the plane accounted, in part, for her silence since landing. The loss of the little girl, Inez, hurt her beyond words. The loss of the rescuers was another painful reminder of the dangers inherent in her profession. Those poor families.

  Kali had seen more death than eighty percent of the people in the world. She hadn't had much experience with the process, just the aftermath. A hot tear leaked from the corner of her eye. That poor child. In her mind, Kali could clearly see the grimy smile and the excited wave as Inez surfaced.

  So much loss. The tears dripped faster. Kali hated breaking down. The litany of reasons she worked disasters repeated like an old broken record. To save the people I can, bring closure to the families, and stand for the victim.

  "There, there, dearie. Are you in pain? The doctor's going to be here soon. We'll get that arm casted in a couple of minutes. Then you can go home and rest."

  All nurses should resemble grandmothers. This one oozed comfortable reassurance that gave Kali the impression everything would be all right. That was the problem with impressions. They lied.

  She wasn't sure anything would ever be okay again. Despite the many disasters she had experienced, the many rescues she'd participated in, she'd never been faced with a survivor dying the way this child had. And had never been this badly affected. Naïve? Maybe. Those who survived were always rushed away to a hospital. Sometimes they succumbed to their injuries, but they did so where Kali wasn’t watching. Of course those deaths had hurt. But they hadn't been as up-close and personal as seeing this child vanish before her eyes.

  During the plane ride home, she hadn't managed to quell the disquieting sense that maybe she should have stayed and searched those cement slabs herself. Maybe the other rescuers had missed an opening, a crevasse somewhere. Maybe Sergeant had made a mistake. Maybe life had survived in that heap of unforgiving rock and concrete.

  But life wasn't fair. When Brad had called Stan to pick her up at the airport, he'd filled him in on the details. Details
that hadn't included a happy ending.