by Selena Kitt
Meg dodged around several groups of people standing and talking. Dane tried to keep her bright blue skirt in sight as she moved ahead of him. “What was that? Sorry I’m on the street corner and I can hardly hear you for the vendors hawking their wares. What?”
“Not likely,” John yelled.
Dane laughed. “I didn’t think so. That’s not something you’d forget.”
He picked up the pace to catch up and saw Meg stop and talk to an old woman. Magrim. “Okay, I’ll talk to you later. I’m meeting Jade at the hotel in ten-fifteen minutes, I’m hoping to spirit her away to play with me this afternoon. Don’t know when I’ll be home.” He put away his phone and hurried to hear their conversation.
“She’s not talking. Doesn’t even respond. I don’t know if she’s asleep or what.” Meg stared down at the old woman in confusion. “I don’t want to disturb her.”
“Did you call her name?” At the sound of Dane’s voice, Magrim reacted violently. She surged to her feet, her necklaces rattling with the sudden movement, her eyes blind. “Danger. You must be careful. It’s all around you.”
“What the…?” Dane stared down at her. No wonder Jade had freaked out. This was beyond his experience too, only he was long past the point of letting a pathetic old woman scare the crap out of him.
“Specifics please, Magrim. You scared a friend of mine today. I’d like to know what danger you see around me?”
“Little blonde. She’s in trouble. Death reaches for her even now.”
Shivers slid down his spine. “What? Why are you saying this?” His voice rose, hardened.
A small restraining hand squeezed his forearm. “Easy,” Meg whispered.
Dane glared down at the old woman. “She terrorized Jade with her warnings. Why, and for what? If there’s a specific danger, then she needs to say what it is.”
“Chains. More chains. So many chains. To bind, to hold, to keep forever.” Magrim cackled like the nutty witch she was.
Dane threw off Meg’s hand. “Let’s go. She’s nuts.”
“Tasha, Emile and Peppe. Tasha, Emile and Peppe.” Magrim continued to parrot the names in a singsong voice.
“Do you know them?”
Magrim dipped her head setting the necklaces rattling. “Family. Family.”
“Oh great, you’re related? You’re all nuts.”
“Careful Dane.” Meg turned back to Magrim. “Is Peppe okay?”
Magrim turned her blind eyes in her direction way. “Peppe is dead. Peppe is dead. Emile is dead. Emile is dead.”
Dane sucked in his breath. Meg pressed the point. “And Tasha?”
“Tasha is dead. Tasha is dead.”
“What?” Meg gasped in horror.
“Don’t listen to her. That’s what she wants. Just forget about her.” He glared at the gathering crowd.
“Dane. That’s a horrible thing to say.” Meg glared at him.
He threw up his hands at that. “Fine. Whatever. However, Tasha isn’t dead. We visited her this morning, for Christ’s sake.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Dane and Meg hashed the issue over all the way back to the hotel. Meg suggested, “She might be picking up on Tasha’s withdrawal from the world.”
Dane snorted. “All she’s doing is repeating herself. She’s a fraud.”
They stopped to let the traffic go by before crossing the road. Meg hopped up onto the curb on the other side. They walked at a fast clip back to the hotel. “I don’t know how you can be so sure. She did mention chains and that was just freaky.”
“Coincidence. She hasn’t said anything helpful. If she’d given names, places, times – then maybe. Instead there’s nothing except conjecture and fear mongering. She lives off scaring people. Like Jade.”
“The locals believe in her. At least according to the hotel manager, she’s held in high regard.” Meg related the conversation they’d had around the dinner table with the manager after Jade’s first encounter with Magrim.
“That’s good marketing.” Something he understood and could appreciate.
“What’s good about it?”
“It’s a business to her. And her strategy works. You paid her didn’t you?” Dane opened the small gate at the side entrance and waited for Meg to walk through. “I saw you slip her some money. If you believe she can tell you something that no one else can, then you’ll pay her for more.”
“I have to admit that she kind of shook me up.”
“See, that makes for a good business. Magrim just gets to repeat the same information over and over again.” What she’d just said proved his point, didn’t it?
Meg tried a different tack to get him to at least consider the possibility of Magrim’s prophecy. “I’m a doctor and a scientist but even I can’t deny the possibility of Magrim’s abilities. The more we learn about our brains and our bodies, the more we realize we don’t know everything. We don’t have scientific answers for all aspects of our knowledge or experience.”
He wasn’t having any of it. Bruce overheard them and came out to see what all the ruckus was about. They told him about Jade and then their visit with Magrim.
Bruce shook his head. “I don’t play around with that stuff. I’m a scientist and shouldn’t have any problem shooting it down – but because I don’t understand it, I like to leave the topic well enough alone.” Lively intelligence gleamed in his eyes as he spoke, reminding Dane how much brain power the team tapped.
The three arrived at the patio still wrangling.
“Jade’s got quite the imagination so I can see Magrim might freak her out a little.” Bruce pulled up a chair and sat down. “Speaking of which, where is she? What did she do, go get another cup of coffee? Or another breakfast?” They laughed.
Jade’s lounge chair was there – she wasn’t. Dane turned slowly, looking for Jade. Meg pulled up a chair and sat down.
Dane frowned and looked around. “We left her right here when we went to talk to Magrim. She said she’d stay here and wait for us.”
“I haven’t seen her. I was in the office working for the last couple of hours. She never came in there.”
Meg stood hurriedly. “This was twenty minutes ago. I’ll go check her room.” She bolted.
Dane watched her go.
“You don’t appear to put much stock in the witch woman’s words?” Bruce propped one leg on his knee and studied Dane.
With a heavy sigh, Dane rubbed the back of his neck, continuing to scan for Jade. “Hard to when there’s nothing concrete. I hate to give credence to nebulous warnings.” He sighed heavily, finally acknowledging that inside he was starting to wonder. “I’d feel better if she were standing in front me, right now.”
“That’s the scientist perspective. Give me something to prove and if I can go prove it then I’ll consider it. For the strong of faith, they believe that if your faith is strong, you don’t need any proof. For them, asking for proof is doubting your faith.”
“Convenient,” Dane said, shaking his head.
Bruce grinned. “Isn’t it?”
Meg came running out the side door. “She’s not there. I asked Susan. She hasn’t seen her in the last half hour either.”
“Damn.” Dane leaned back and stretched out his legs. They caught on the table leg. He shifted and tried to stretch out again and kicked something. Looking underneath, his heart froze.
Reaching down and under, he snagged up a small black leather bag and tossed it on the table. “Please tell me that isn’t hers.”
Jade rolled over, a slight moan escaping. A rumble under her ear irritated her. It sounded so close and yet so far away. She groaned and tried to curl up into a ball and go back to sleep. Yet, she didn’t think she’d really been asleep. More like adrift on floating clouds. Except she wasn’t floating in a sunny space. Everything was gray. Gray light, gray clouds. She’d have shaken her head in dismay only the thought of doing that stopped her.
It would hurt. She knew that…somehow.
She c
ouldn’t seem to reason out an explanation of how or why.
There was a mustiness to the air – oils, metals? She almost moaned, but caught it before it slipped out. It was important not to make a sound.
But she didn’t know why.
Tired, confused and sore, she slipped deeper into the clouds and slept.
Meg stared at the bag, shock, worry and horror mingling to twist her features. “That is hers.” She bent to look under the table as if thinking she’d find Jade huddled under there.
“And it’s been here since we sat down.” Dane stared at it, a sense of unease growing in the pit of his stomach.
“Shit.”
“What?” Bruce studied their faces. “So, she left her purse out here. What’s the big deal about that?”
“Maybe nothing – maybe everything.” Meg and Dane stared at each other. “Except it doesn’t feel like nothing…does it Dane?”
He shook his head, his mind racing. “If she’s not here, not in the hotel, where would she be?”
“Nowhere without her purse.” Meg was adamant on that point. “She never goes anywhere without it.”
Bruce pursed his lips and considered the issue. “You’re thinking something’s happened to her?”
“She promised to sit and wait here for us. We weren’t gone twenty minutes.” Meg glanced over at Dane for confirmation.
“And all of this on the heels of Magrim’s warnings.” He tilted his head and nodded. “Yeah, maybe I can see why you believe we should be a little worried. There have been enough strange things going on.” He couldn’t help the fear knotting his stomach. Where the hell was she?
“If she’s gone, did she go willingly?” Bruce questioned, “Or did trouble come her way?”
Meg nudged the purse. “She wouldn’t have gone anywhere without her purse. Something is wrong.”
Bruce whistled softly. “Seriously? Are we thinking she’s been kidnapped?” He shook his head. “Do we call the authorities again?”
“Let’s search first. Start with the hotel. Ask everyone if they’ve seen her in the last half hour and if they saw anyone else around, other than your team, staff and the other guests. Are there any other guests in the hotel right now?” Dane asked, standing up. Unease twisting into panic.
“There aren’t. The last group cleared out earlier today.” Bruce stood up. “I’ll start with the kitchen staff and then the manager. Too bad there aren’t any security cameras on the place.”
“I’ll walk through the front door and see if anyone is there or in the offices. I’ll find the guys, too. See if any of them know where she is.” Meg hurried inside.
Dane looking around and spoke to the empty patio. “And I’ll walk around here and see if I can find anything else.” He headed to the parking lot first. If Jade had been snatched, her kidnapper would have had a vehicle. Would anyone be able to just drive in there and snatch her – and that fast – without someone noticing? Could they have walked right up to her on the patio and forced her into a vehicle? He spun around to study where he’d last seen her. If she’d been taken from under the palm tree, tucked away in the shade like that, it was quite possible no one noticed. And then he remembered Magrim’s words to Jade. Something about, ‘Evil spirits dwell in those close to you. Save yourself before it is too late.’
He spun around and came to a dead stop. The team had gathered inside. He could see them standing and talking. All of them were here and accounted for. Except for Jade. Had one of them convinced Jade to go to their rooms and knocked her unconscious? Not likely, and why would they? They worked with her day in and day out. There’d been better times to snatch her. Like when she worked alone at the lab. Money for security had been approved, but only just. They still had to hire someone.
He realized they were standing in a group, staring at him. He walked inside to meet them.
“Did you find her?”
Meg shook her head. “No.” Grim understanding showed on her face. “I guess you didn’t either?”
“No.” His heart raced inside. He could hardly think straight. Panic built, as he was no longer able to ignore what his mind and heart had been screaming at him for the last ten minutes.
“She’s gone.”
Jade woke slowly, as if from a deep, dark sleep. She yawned and tried to slip back under but the surface was hard. And she was cold. Pulling into a tighter ball, she willed herself back to sleep. But couldn’t get there. She shifted onto her back, wincing at the aches and pains of lying too long in one position. Her head pounded like a steady sledgehammer going off inside.
Her eyes popped open. A basement ceiling stared back at her. A dirty basement ceiling. More like a root cellar ceiling. She frowned, yet even that movement made her head hurt. She groaned softly, even as other aches and pains slowly entered her awareness. Hell, most of her hurt – and what didn’t had gone numb. She struggled to sit up, then looked around. She was sitting on a concrete floor.
That explained some of her aches and pains. There were no windows. No lights. Just an all encompassing gloominess. She could see, just not very far or very clearly.
Reaching up, she rubbed her temple and tried to swallow. Her fingers came away sticky with a little blood.
Her throat felt like cotton had been stuffed inside and had sucked all the moisture out, making it impossible to swallow. She tried anyway, wishing for water. It took several minutes in the dim light for her eyes to adjust. There was nothing – no cupboards, no furniture, What the hell? An odd noise sounded in the distance. With her head too woozy to think, she lay down on the floor, trying to let the bits of information roll around and hoping to come up with answers.
Ten minutes later, all she had was a headache.
She sat up again and rolled on to her hands and knees then stood slowly, anticipating the rush of blood – and pain – to her head. Once standing, she closed her eyes, and breathed deeply for several long minutes before she stood steady. The same odd noises popped in and out of her consciousness. As did cold and chills. Her feet were almost numb as were her legs. She couldn’t sort everything out.
“I don’t know what happened, but something’s sapped all my energy and strength…just standing is a major accomplishment,” she murmured out loud.
Feeling comforted by the sound of her own voice, she took one faltering step. Then another. She had to stop and breathe deeply before trying a third. “Hello? Is anyone there?”
She stepped forward again and came up short. The same odd sound had grown louder. Her leg couldn’t move any further. She turned around. The odd sound fell into place. So did the odd chill on her ankle.
Lifting her leg, she pulled up her jeans. She couldn’t think; her mind was blank with shock. Then understanding slapped her up the side of her brain. Wrapped around her ankle was a manacle. A chain extended from that to the concrete wall behind her.
A chain, so similar – too similar – to the ones she’d seen on the dead women from the grave.
Like them, she’d become a prisoner.
While Bruce called the same officers that had helped during Dr. Mike’s disappearance, the team assembled in the office to compare information. Dane sat back and closed his eyes. His throat closed.
Damn it.
Impatience and the need for action seized his gut. His instincts said to find her before it was too late. What the hell could have happened? The hotel was a public area but they’d had few guests this last week. Still, any stranger could have walked in and out without attracting too much attention. But not with Jade…unless she knew him and went willingly…
“Could her disappearance be related to the gravesite?”
Everyone stopped and stared at him. “What do you mean?” asked Stephen.
“Have you had anyone angry or complaining about the grave being opened?”
Meg glanced at her team then back at Dane. “To be honest, the lack of any reaction from the locals is what surprised us. I know everyone is still reeling from the earthquake, the flooding,
the cholera, tetanus…but instead of concern about the work we’re doing at the mass grave, there’s almost an air of apathy. Like they can’t deal with much more.”
Dr. Mike spoke up. “Their lack of interest and caring suggests we should only remove the remains if they meet our search criteria and leave the others be. Not test the others at all. So few family members have come forward at the clinic… And with the pressure from Tony… And if all our efforts focused in the lab trailers we’d be done that much faster.”
“Have you turned anyone away? Anyone approach you about disturbing the spirits? Anyone give you any kind of suspicious or unsettling reaction. What about more break-ins?”
Dr. Mike glanced from one face to the next, then turned to stare at Dane. “There’s been one minor one at the clinic, but nothing was taken. There’s been no more here at the hotel that we know of. And as much as I hate to say it, the only one particularly bothered was Tasha, your sister-in-law.”
“Great. Well she’s not capable of kidnapping Jade.” He pulled out his phone. “As far as I know, she is safe and sound at the hospital.”
“Did you ever check with John to see if there was anything new on Tasha?” Meg asked. “I’m thinking about what Magrim said.”
He grimaced. “Right. She said Tasha was dead.”
“What?” Stephen leaned forward. “Did she die?”
“I don’t believe so.” Dane let Meg tell the others about Magrim’s prophecy. He dialed John. “John? What’s the matter? You don’t sound very good.”
“I just called the hospital. Tasha passed away during her nap this afternoon. Just after you and I left her. I’ve been wandering around town in a daze ever since.”
Dane closed his eyes and slumped against the wall. His brother just couldn’t catch a break. “Shit. I am sorry John. I didn’t see that one coming.”
“Neither did I. Now I have no reason to stay, do I? Except for Peppe, my entire Haitian family has been wiped out,” he said bitterly. Dane walked away from the others. “I’m sorry John. I know now much you were looking forward to the baby and having Tasha back to normal.”