Lost in the Darkness (Crusaders of the Lost Book 1)

by William Mark

  As twilight was upon the team, they were most of the way through the picturesque mountain range that bisected the country. It was getting late and the team was tired of being on the road. They didn’t make their planned destination in Denver. They pulled over in the winter haven of Vail, a popular skiing destination during the winter months. In mid-August, the obvious off season of the region, the hotel rates were low, and the population was thin. It was as good as any place to stop for the night.

  Melinda took over the driving duties while Rachel moved back to the captain’s seat. Beth pulled rank and took back the passenger seat, so she could prop her feet up. Louis was back at his computer station running diagnostics on his machines in the back…or so he said, for Rachel recognized World of Warcraft when she saw it.

  Curious, Rachel asked Beth, “I read that whole police report and all the background for the rescue of Charlotte. I didn’t see anything about the parents calling her ‘honey bear.’ That was important; I mean it’s what convinced the girl. Where did you come up with that?”

  Beth turned around in her seat with mild annoyance at having to explain herself to the new girl.

  “It’s all in the details. Before Alexis and I picked you up from the airport, we had just met with the Morgan’s at the hotel to get them settled in for the fake conference thing. She was holding a picture of Charlotte. It was worn, not like it had been kept in a frame or anything, so it was clearly an important picture to her, something she obviously carried around with her.”

  Rachel was following, “Okay.”

  “So, as Alexis talked to them, the mom had the picture out, as a matter of habit I guess, and I saw the back side of it. It had the words ‘honey bear’ with the year written on it in what I can assume was mom’s handwriting. It was the year before she went missing. I made a note of it in case it was helpful, and I was right. That’s it.”

  Beth turned back around in the seat and propped her feet back up on the dash not wanting any kind of attribution or recognition for the work. It was who she was, take it or leave it. Rachel picked up on the hint and let the answer settle. She remained impressed. That was a helluva catch.

  The team found a nice Marriott resort in the middle of Vail that sat in the shadow of the mountains. The bare mountain sides were adorned with ski-lifts and were solely operated as people movers for sight-seers this time of year. The mountains looked strangely naked without the customary blanket of snow draped from the top. Instead, the team was greeted with a dismal brown and green grass look which offered a completely different feel to the area.

  Melinda parked the Mercedes Sprinter off to the side of the hotel and made all the arrangements inside. Upon her return, she issued out key cards to the team. Curt took his card without saying anything and walked through the front door ahead of everyone. He slung a large duffle bag over his shoulder and walked over to the elevator. Rachel noticed that his knuckles were bandaged up.

  “All right, I guess we get another early morning start, and that should put us in Chicago a little after lunchtime tomorrow,” Rachel offered to the team.

  “Yeah, sounds good,” Beth replied dryly.

  Rachel wondered if she had already stepped out of bounds but ignored the thought as everyone grabbed their overnight bags and headed inside.

  Rachel caught up with Melinda as they walked to their rooms.

  “So, does he ever open up at all?” She explained to Melinda that she had witnessed what happened that morning in San Francisco.

  “Oh!” She searched for a good answer to the question. “Not really. He’s a good man though, just in a lot of pain. I’ve found it’s just best to be there for him when he needs it and not to push.”

  Rachel listened to the advice and took note. Melinda said good night and disappeared into her hotel room. Rachel found herself worrying about the man she barely knew but felt drawn to, as if she could help in some way. She felt compelled to ease his pain but couldn’t explain why.

  As Rachel stood at her hotel room door, movement caught her eye to the left. It was Curt, with an empty bucket, in search of ice, still sporting the tan trench coat. He had walked out of the room next to hers. Curt paused noticing Rachel was looking at him and held her stare, again. Unsure how to proceed, he just bowed his head and moved past her in the hallway. Rachel felt stupid for staring at him again, so as he walked past she offered a sincere, “Good night!”

  Out of instinct, Curt replied back over his shoulder, “G’night.” Rachel smiled, but for what reason she did not know. She slid the card into the door lock, and after hearing the click, she pushed it open and entered the room.

  She looked around the hotel room, figuring life on this team and doing this kind of work, she would have to become accustomed to living in and out of hotels. It reminded her about her own dark side. She set her bag down on the bed and kicked off her shoes, trying to get that “at home” feeling. The minibar beckoned from under the television stand/dresser, and she felt the urge to open a bottle of liquor but instead sat down at the edge of the bed and meditated away the urge, repeating her mantra.

  She knew the new surroundings would cause her anxiety, but she dealt with the fact she would constantly be on the move as a part of this team. It was a chance to be a part of something special and make a real difference. The mantra calmed her down, but as a matter of habit, she immediately thought of her. She desperately missed her sister, and although it was years ago, it left a scar that would never heal.

  Outside of the fourth-story hotel window was the view of a brown and green façade of a beautiful wintery mountain waiting for the winter to bring snow. She figured this room and its view was coveted during the winter season but was nothing special during the summer. Below, she noticed a group of workers knocking off from work and heading out for the night. She moved to the edge of the bed, just an arm’s length from the minibar. She opened her luggage and pulled out the framed picture of her sister and herself, a half-posed, half-candid shot of them together at a beach house. She set it up next to the minibar as a reminder. She decided the picture would travel with her everywhere. She remembered the day the picture was taken. It was a day of joy all around, and she prayed that she would know happiness like that again. She felt the emotions welling up inside once more. She wiped a tear away and forced herself to look away from the picture before she was overcome with that emotion. She got up and looked out the window one more time.

  Chapter 8

  It must have been somewhere in the neighborhood of three in the morning. Rachel had finally managed to doze off, but a distinctive thump brought her back to the conscious world. She tilted her head up to listen for any follow-up noise, but when none came, she nestled back down on the soft hotel pillow.

  Thump.

  “What the hell?” Rachel asked the empty room.

  She sat up in bed, wondering what was making that noise, whether it was some type of disturbance down the hall, a more physical round between two enthusiastic lovebirds, or someone trying to break into a room. She didn’t hear any other associated noises but instantly grew frustrated because now she was awake.

  She fell back down on the bed and closed her eyes to judge exactly how hard it would be to get back to sleep.

  Thump. Thump. Crash!

  The sound was more distinctive now. It was coming from the room next to hers…Curt’s room, she quickly realized. Rachel jumped out of bed and used the hotel phone to call over to his room. No answer.

  “Fine. This is ridiculous.”

  Rachel opened her door and saw two security officers from the hotel standing outside of Curt’s door, waiting for a response from a knock.

  One turned to her, “It’s okay, ma’am. You can go back to sleep. We’ll take care of it.”

  At that moment, Rachel wasn’t as concerned with sleep as much as she was with Curt or what might occur between him and the security officers. A door clicked open from across the hall and Melinda emerged from inside. She shot Rachel a here-we-go-again look a
nd started to address the security officers and smooth things over before it got out of hand.

  “Let us handle this please, ma’am,” one of them answered.

  A moment later, the door to Curt’s room broke open, and his face, flushed red and sweaty from some sort of drunken exertion, appeared and answered.

  “What?”

  “We received several complaints about you disturbing our other guests, sir. Please, we need you to stop or we’ll have to ask you to leave the premises.”

  “Huh?” He answered, half confused, half with contempt.

  “Don’t huh, me. You are making too much noise, and if you want to play games buddy, I’ll kick your ass right out of here!”

  The drop in the professional manner by the security officer sent off alarms in Rachel as well as Melinda. They could see Curt beginning to allow anger to break through his drunken state.

  Curt’s door flung open in a move to clear the area for the impending fight. The security officers braced themselves as one tightened the grip on his Maglight.

  “I got this officers; it won’t be a problem. He is with me,” Melinda said making her way in between the officers and Curt to prevent any type of physical altercation.

  “Excuse me ma’am; is he with you?”

  “Yes, he’s with us, and we’ll take responsibility for him. Please, he’s just upset and had a few too many. He got passed up on a promotion at work, and they told him while we’re out here for some training. Kind of a dick move, right?” Melinda grabbed Curt around the waist; his arm instinctively went around her shoulder, like a crutch.

  The officers could see her point and eased in their stance. However, the noise would have to stop, as they explained, or he would have to leave.

  Curt looked down at Melinda in bewilderment and at the use of the word “us.” He studied her face and looked over at Rachel, standing in her doorway, arms crossed with a worried look on her face. She was wearing a revealing tank top that hugged her curvy body and men’s boxers as shorts with the waist line folded over and hugging her hips just below her waistline. He looked her over lustfully with drunken eyes but stopped when a wave of embarrassment came crashing over, and he looked away.

  “Poor thing had a lot riding on that promotion, but it won’t be a problem anymore sir; I promise, or we’ll all check out and forfeit our money…no questions asked.”

  The security officers agreed and took the deal, knowing management would rather keep the customers happy than unnecessarily involve law enforcement. They left the trouble maker with a stern warning that seemed to be lost on Curt.

  Melinda escorted Curt inside of his room, giving Rachel a nod indicating that she could handle the situation from this point, and shut the door behind her. Rachel stood in the hallway with her arms crossed wondering about the true extent of the battle Curt was fighting against his pain—a battle he was clearly losing.

  Chapter 9

  Morning came like clockwork in the small mountain resort town. Rachel managed a few more hours of sleep, following the episode that ripped her awake in the middle of the night. She thought about Curt and his reckless behavior and wondered if that would cost him in the end. It was clear he was angry and full of rage over his missing son, but there must be a better way to deal with his emotions. She knew first-hand how easy it was to spiral out of control. It was a walk across a tightrope with no net, and losing control could be too costly. She figured if Curt’s behavior wasn’t kept in check, it would wind up getting someone hurt or worse.

  Rachel showered, dressed, and packed her luggage, ready to head on to Chicago. She took the elevator down to the lobby to grab breakfast before the team gathered together to leave. She figured that she would have a little time to herself while Curt recovered from the night before.

  As the elevator door opened, she made her way through the lobby to the hotel restaurant. Across the lobby and by the front door, a tall man wearing a tight-fitting white t-shirt, jogging shorts, and running shoes caught her attention. He was panting from a long run, his face beaded with sweat, and his clothes were equally drenched. Rachel noticed the man was athletically fit and had an attractive body, but as she looked closer, she was taken aback. It was Curt.

  Rachel didn’t notice she had literally stopped mid-stride in the lobby to watch Curt come in the door, cooling down from his run. He pulled the ear buds from his ears and headed to the elevator. He glanced over his shoulder feeling the attention from someone to his right. He locked eyes, again, with Rachel as he passed her.

  “Hey!” He said without stopping. He could see the obvious confusion on her face but didn’t stop to explain. He was still embarrassed from the night before.

  “Hey,” she said, almost dumbfounded as she snapped out of her confusion at the sight.

  She came to as the elevator doors closed behind Curt. She remembered her original destination and continued to the restaurant, shaking off the confusion of seeing Curt in such an unexpected state. She sat and ordered a coffee while she looked over the menu. She replayed the awkward confrontation in her mind and couldn’t stop the smile from appearing on her face. She felt embarrassed by her response to seeing Curt walk through the front door. It was like she had never seen an attractive man before, and she was some awkward teenager. She remembered the inebriated mess he had been only a few hours before, but now he was running like he was training for a marathon. He is a very complex person she figured, and that made her even more curious.

  After breakfast, Rachel grabbed a local newspaper and waited in the lobby for everyone to come down and join her so they could leave for Chicago. Beth joined her soon after, and Louis walked in from the parking lot. She finished an article on an upcoming local election where the candidates were debating environmental issues and the legalization of marijuana.

  “Hey Curtis. Get a good run in this morning?”

  Rachel folded her newspaper down to see a freshly showered and shaved Curt Walker walking toward them at the restaurant. He made coffee in his room and brought it down with him. He was dressed in a white button-up shirt, no tie, dark slacks, and his tan trench coat. He answered Louis and looked over at Rachel.

  “Hey?” He said to Rachel as he bent over and searched through her discarded sections of the newspaper.

  “Hey.”

  “I didn’t mean to be rude this morning. I had just finished a run and wanted to get showered up so we could all leave on time.”

  “Oh, that’s okay. I was a little shocked, I guess. I mean, I didn’t quite recognize you without your trench coat.”

  Curt stood up straight, looked down at his overcoat, and dropped the newspaper back down without reading it. He threw a quick smile back at her and looked over at Beth and Louis who were watching, interested.

  Curt gave a questioning look, and Louis quickly realized what he was waiting for. He had forgotten.

  “Sorry…they came in early this morning.” He removed a folded piece of paper, what looked like printer paper to Rachel, and handed it to Curt. He unfolded it, eager to read its contents.

  “It doesn’t look like it’s him. One’s Hispanic and the other was identified by dental records, obviously not him,” Louis added with a sympathetic tone.

  Curt read the paper and let out a long breath, like the paper gave him permission to breathe. He was relieved at the information or lack thereof.

  Rachel looked puzzled and figured she would be allowed “in” when the time came and thought better of asking about the piece of paper.

  “So? We’re off to Chicago this morning, right?” Rachel asked, excited to get started in her new job.

  “Oh, well…“ Louis chimed in, “…we may not be leaving so soon.”

  “Why not?” Rachel asked.

  “Well, I checked on the van this morning, and it didn’t want to start, so I disconnected all my equipment, and it started, but barely. I think there is a short somewhere, and it’s drawing on the battery. I took it over to a mechanic’s shop to have it checked out. I shou
ld hear something soon, but we may be grounded for a bit.”

  “We’re not leaving?” Melinda asked, as she walked up and stood next to Curt.

  “No, sounds like some electrical issues in the van, so we may need to hang out for a day,” answered Curt.

  “So, how does that work? I mean, Alexis is expecting us in Chicago; should we call her?”

  “No, she doesn’t care. It’s really a suggestion by her, especially if we find something worthwhile to stay for, but I’ll call her and let her know we’ll be staying a little longer,” Beth answered.

  “Oh, well okay. So, what do we do now?”

  “I have my laptop, and as long as we don’t need any in depth searches into particular databases, I can just hang out here and use the hotel’s public Wi-Fi.”

  Curt looked around. He liked the idea of going out and “fishing” instead of wasting the day waiting around for the van to get fixed.

  “We’ll need another car,” Melinda added. “I don’t think the four of us in one car would look that inconspicuous.”

  Rachel perked up, ready to be part of the team. “I’ll go up to the concierge desk and get a rental for the day.”

  “Alright, you three in the rental, and I’ll troll around in the Crown Vic. You can pretend to be on a shopping trip or something.”

  Beth rolled her eyes and said under her breath, “’Cause that’s what we girls live for, shopping,” but deep down she was excited for a deserved break.

  The group agreed to the plan while they waited on word of the van. Louis got out his laptop and fired it up. Curt studied the hotel lobby and found a secluded spot that was just out of the security camera angles. He didn’t want any government agency coming back and finding Louis on his laptop in case he had to hack into some database while using the hotel’s Wi-Fi. Louis agreed and moved seats.

  The team spent the day looking around the town’s malls, libraries, public parks, and other hotspots for child hangouts. School was still in session, and this limited the opportunity to observe kids out in public. The town was pretty quiet in that its off season didn’t attract but a quarter of the tourists it would during the winter months.