The large table behind her was covered with flyers. A smaller table against the wall supported several large canisters of hot coffee and stacks of paper cups. Next to the cups were four dozen donuts in pink boxes.
She hoped to be on the road by 8:00 a.m. sharp.
Twelve people. Twelve lousy people. That was all that showed up. Her sense of despair deepened as the clock closed in on eight o’clock. She knew from experience, most of those who were coming had already arrived. There wouldn’t be many stragglers. It meant they would be lucky to cover a third the distance she had mapped out. She forced herself to ignore the frustration and remember that thirteen was better than one.
Keyes watched silently as the group chatted with each other, coffee cups still in their hands. She was suddenly overcome by a feeling of loneliness as she thought about her life now and everything she had to do, alone. The doorbell rang, and she shook herself out of it. Fourteen is better than thirteen, she mused.
Crossing the carpeted floor, she opened the white front door to find two people standing on her porch. She didn’t recognize either of them.
“Good morning,” she said, feigning a smile.
The larger of the two nodded. “Good morning. Are you Anne Keyes?” He already knew the answer.
“Yes, I am. Are you here to help?”
The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow and peered over her shoulder at the volunteers in her living room. “Oh, I’m sorry. We didn’t realize you had company. We can come back another time.”
Keyes looked at him curiously. “It’s alright. I take it you’re not here for the search?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Oh,” she frowned. “What can I do for you then?”
“My name is Dennis Mayer, from the L.A.P.D. We came to talk to you about your case.”
Keyes’ heart jumped. “Los Angeles Police? Did you find…”
Mayer raised his hand cautiously, cutting her off. “No, ma’am. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that.” He looked over her shoulder again. There was a brief look of reluctance on his face, but he relented. “Would you mind if we talked privately?”
Keyes asked one of her volunteers to go through the details of the search while she led her visitors to a small dining room on the other side of the kitchen.
“We’re sorry. We can see you’re busy,” began Mayer. “But we wanted to talk to you about your daughter’s case.”
“Of course,” she nodded, looking back and forth between them. “You just caught me a little off-guard. I didn’t know LA was working on the case too.”
“They’re not officially,” replied Mayer. “I’m retired. I’m more of a private investigator now, following a handful of special cases. Yours being one of them.”
“I see,” Keyes replied. “Well, I’m more than happy to answer any questions you have. I can use all the help I can get.”
Mayer could hear the people in the other room and glanced around the corner before continuing. When he did, he lowered his voice. “We’re familiar with most of the details regarding your daughter Katie. But there were a couple questions we wanted to ask you, things that generally take a while to be updated in the case file. First and foremost, has anyone been in contact with you? For example, a ransom note, a phone call, anything at all. It could even be something that struck you as odd but you assumed to be completely unrelated. Even a strange comment from a friend.”
Keyes pondered the question. “No, nothing overt. And I’m trying to think of anything odd but nothing comes to mind. To be honest,” she said with a longing look, “when you can’t sleep for four months, your mind tries to connect anything and everything.”
The truth was that Anne Keyes didn’t know what to think. There were so many things about her daughter’s disappearance that she couldn’t understand. How could she just disappear less than eight blocks from her own house on a neighborhood sidewalk? How could no one have seen anything? Christ, most of the block knew each other; certainly by first name, if not by their last.
They lived in a very nice area, and Katie was twelve years old. She rarely walked home by herself, and even when she did, she knew what to do if approached by a stranger. The police thought that might mean Katie was abducted by someone she knew. But they’d checked everyone: family, friends…they’d even traced every person who had ever called or texted her phone.
Keyes shook her head, still thinking about the question. “I’m sorry, I can’t think of a single thing.”
“I understand.” Mayer nodded sympathetically. “Just one last question. Do you know how many of those contacts –– the people who called or texted your daughter’s phone –– did the police conduct a full background search on?”
“I’m not sure. Most of them, I think.”
“I see,” answered Mayer. He thought again about the group in her living room. He had counted twelve when they walked through. Keyes’ numbers were falling fast. It was normal after a few months of searching. Most volunteers eventually got pulled away, having to attend to their own lives. It was understandable, but the obvious decline left the victim’s family in an increasingly large emotional vacuum, lost in the void of loneliness and despair. She did still have these twelve, he thought, and probably several more that couldn’t make it that day. But it didn’t help that the mood was not an optimistic one.
Mayer could see the disappointment filling Anne Keyes’ eyes as she realized her two visitors didn’t know any more than she did. He finally bobbed his head slightly, turning and looking down past his right shoulder.
Evan was facing away from him, examining several photographs on a nearby shelf. His gaze finally circled back, and he looked up to Dennis Mayer. He then turned to Keyes and spoke quietly, for the first time. “Can we see her bedroom?”
11
The bedroom was large, much larger than the others he had been in. The expensive canopied bed stood against the far wall, which was mostly covered with posters; not altogether different from the others. He recognized several of the poster’s bands, all popular among the middle school and high school crowds. In the middle was a thick pink and purple rug with an overly wide, half-height dresser stretched beneath the window in front of them. The space itself was immaculate.
Evan stepped to the middle and studied the room as he performed a three hundred and sixty degree scan. He paused on the closet, with its open door displaying the clothes inside. When he finished, he took a deep breath and nodded to Dennis.
Dennis turned to Keyes, who was standing pensively behind them. “Ms. Keyes. I need to ask you two things that may seem very unorthodox.”
She cocked her head curiously. “Okay.”
“First, I’d like to ask that you leave us alone in this room.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
Puzzled, she crossed her arms in front of her. “Why?”
“We would like to examine it more closely, privately.”
“Privately?”
“That’s right.”
“For how long?”
“About thirty minutes.”
“Well, we’re supposed to leave. We’re searching today and…”
“Stall.”
“Stall?”
Dennis nodded. “I know this sounds strange, but we have some experience with this.”
Keyes didn’t understand. She glanced at Evan and then back at Dennis. “What are you going to do?”
“We just want to check things out. Try to see if the others missed anything.”
“Okay.” She was still hesitant, but frankly, she had nothing left to lose. Any possibility of finding a new clue, no matter how strange it might seem, was worth it.
She scanned the room one last time. “Can I…get you anything?”
Dennis looked to Evan who shook his head. “No, we’re fine. But there’s a second condition. Don’t tell anyone about us. Not the people downstairs, not the other investigators, no one.”
Keyes blinked, now even more confused. “
Don’t tell anyone?”
“That’s right. No one. No matter what.”
“Why?”
“We don’t have time to explain. But I promise that if we can help, we will. If you keep it quiet. And I don’t mean just for now, I mean forever.”
Keyes remained still, staring at both of them. She had no idea what was going on. Who was the boy and why wouldn’t an ex-policeman want anyone to know about them? She was utterly confused, but after a long silence, her exhaustion won out. She was so weary, both emotionally and physically, that she decided if these two wanted to remain anonymous, then she didn’t really care. If they could help her, she was willing to do anything, and if they couldn’t, then she had nothing to lose by forgetting they were ever there. At least she hoped that was true.
“Fine,” she sighed. “You weren’t here. But what am I supposed to tell the people downstairs?”
“Tell them we’re investigators that needed to verify a few things and leave it at that.”
Keyes nodded. “Thirty minutes?”
This time Evan spoke up. “Maybe less.”
Evan stood motionless in the middle of the room, which had now become deathly quiet. With the door closed, he and Dennis could no longer detect even the low murmur of voices downstairs. Evan was struck by how different each of the kids’ rooms had been, and yet again how similar.
It had been over four months now, and this was the fourth family the duo had visited. Together they had found three more children. The first two were still alive, miraculously, but unfortunately the third was not. The emotional collapse of realizing the young boy was deceased was something Evan was not ready for. In fact, the sudden emotional change on the “other side” weakened him considerably, and he nearly lost his link — his anchor — back to the world of the living.
They eventually found the boy’s body, which the family was still grateful for, but Evan wasn’t sure if he would ever be the same after that single moment. He realized he was going to have to learn a way to somehow brace himself for that next eventuality.
It was easier to think about the two other girls they had saved. One had been kidnapped and kept in a shed amid a fairly populous neighborhood. The kidnappers, a man and his wife, held her for years and had her so brainwashed that the girl almost didn’t want to be rescued.
The second girl, even younger, was recently kidnapped by her deranged father. The crime was not a mystery, but where they had fled to was. The father was constantly on the move, but eventually they found them.
In each instance, all three families swore themselves to secrecy over Evan and Dennis’ participation. A promise they both made to Dan Taylor, and the necessary level of caution to keep Evan safe.
They waited until they could approach the families quietly and eventually swore them to silence.
And yet, through all of the work, the most gratifying part of it all was being present when the families were reunited with their child. Even in death. The outpouring of emotion was simply indescribable. The realization that they had been given another chance to hold their child in their arms meant more to them than life itself. Two of the fathers had fallen onto their knees and wept. Those were moments that Evan would remember for the rest of his life.
But now, as he stood in the middle of Katie Keyes’ bedroom, he began to grow nervous. Would he experience the despair of finding her beyond help, and if so, would it cause him to lose his grip again?
“You okay?” Dennis asked.
“I think so.”
Evan moved gingerly to the girl’s bed. He ran two fingers lightly over the smooth sateen sheets. After a long moment, he turned around and eased himself onto the side of the mattress. With another look at Dennis, he turned and raised his legs up. He then lowered his head onto the pillow.
As he looked up at the canopy above him, he thought he could still detect the scent of the girl’s shampoo on the pillow. He lowered his arms to either side with fists down and tried to relax. The pills in his mouth were nearly dissolved, and he opened his right hand to look at the object inside. It was the locket Ellie had given him. Evan rubbed a thumb over it lightly before turning it sideways and popping it open. Inside were two pictures: one of his little sister and the other his father.
With a deep breath, he closed his eyes.
12
It took longer to feel it, but the coolness eventually came. It washed over him in the darkness like a powerful wave, sending chills through his body. He remained motionless, waiting.
In the distance, the blackness began to grow lighter until it eventually coalesced into a tiny dot. The small light seemed to freeze for a moment before exploding wider and rushing toward him. He braced his body for the impact, but there was no particular feeling when it overtook him and surrounded his body in bright, white light.
Evan could sense himself thinking, almost as if he could feel the electrical signals traveling through his brain. He couldn’t tell if it was real.
One surprise that he wasn’t expecting was that, during every episode, his entrance to the other side was never the same. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower. And the fog. The fog was always different. Always moving.
The space immediately before him began to swirl into the shape of a large tunnel. The rest of the fog twisted around in snaking patterns until small circles appeared deep in the mist.
Evan squeezed tighter. He could sense the sharp tip of the metal locket in his hand. This would not last long.
The circles then began to open, revealing the deep red ocean behind them.
Suddenly, there it was. The dread. The feeling of sickness and poison surrounding him. He could almost feel Death sensing his presence. It could sense his beating heart and crept closer through the fog.
Evan tried to visualize the picture sitting atop Katie Keyes’ dresser. A picture of her young face, alive and smiling into the camera.
He pressed his eyes tighter, concentrating. The largest, tunnel-shaped hole continued growing in the fog in front of him, stretching until something became visible on the other side.
Evan stared hard into the swirling passageway and tried somehow to will himself just a little closer, but couldn’t. He remained. Staring from a distance.
He could see images forming inside. He pressed forward again, straining to see. Someplace dark with a small light and…a shape.
Then it arrived. The terror. A sudden jolt coursed through his body, causing the muscles in his chest to seize violently.
Dennis Mayer knelt next to Evan, carefully watching the movements of his body: the chest and diaphragm for breathing abnormalities and his head for perspiration. Shannon’s sister, Mary, had taught Dennis the signs to look for, in spite of Dan Taylor’s insistence that only Evan could now return himself from out of the fog. Dennis didn’t know if that was true, but if he saw Evan struggling, he was going to try whatever he could.
He jumped when Evan’s body began spasming, nearly causing Dennis to fall backward. He quickly leaned forward and found Evan’s wrist with his fingers. His pulse had quickened considerably. He checked the boy’s forehead. Small beads of sweat had appeared.
Suddenly, Evan’s body arched above the bed and all the muscles from his legs to his jaw tightened.
“Evan!” Dennis said aloud. After no response, he leaned in closer. “EVAN!”
Evan tried to control the panic within his body. He scrambled to focus and forced himself to remember why it was happening. What exactly it was that was frightening his system.
He released all his energy from both the tunnel and its images. It was now about him.
“As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…”
“EVAN!” Dennis shook him hard. He reached down and wrapped his hands around Evan’s fists. He squeezed hard and forced the sharp point of the locket deeper into Evan’s soft palm.
Evan’s body bucked one last time and then became still. Dennis waited nervously. He was already reaching for his phone when Evan managed to open his ey
es and immediately rolled to the side.
Dennis instantly grabbed a large plastic bag he had laid on the floor. He got it to Evan’s mouth just in time for the teenager to vomit inside.
Once he was done, Evan rolled back onto the bed. Dennis reached out with a cloth and gently wiped his mouth. Evan looked up at him gratefully.
Dennis twisted the bag closed and stared at him. “Are you okay?”
“It’s different when you try to make it happen.” After only a brief moment, he quickly turned to Dennis.
“She’s alive!”
13
They couldn’t tell Anne Keyes what Evan had seen. Not yet. It was too soon, and while Evan was sure her daughter was alive, it still wasn’t clear where she was.
The room that Evan had seen was dark, almost pitch black, with only a few hints of light. The walls seemed like concrete. The girl was lying down on some kind of a thin bed or cot. She wasn’t moving on the bed, but she was breathing.
The room felt long, or wide, with strange sounds echoing from multiple directions. But Evan had not been able to make any of it out clearly before losing his connection to her.
Though tempted to give her some hope, they had to refrain from telling Keyes. They couldn’t risk the possibility of her flying into hysterics, wanting to know how to find Katie. They needed her calm.
Instead, they simply told her they had some ideas but needed to return later, preferably when there were no other guests in the house. Keyes was still confused but agreed to let them back in that evening.
Evan wasn’t done.
When the two left the house and walked to the curb, neither noticed the white car parked two houses down on the opposite side of the street. Inside the old Ford, on the driver’s side, sat a lone figure. He was slouched down low in the front seat, peering just above the steering wheel and watching both of them climb into Mayer’s large, gray truck.
The Unexpected Hero Page 5