Brayden couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Hey, if you and Josh don’t do it, who will? The cops? They don’t even have the manpower to take on some of these crazies. They don’t even have the kind of team you’ve put together here. The dedication in this room doesn’t come along every day. If you guys hadn’t gone after Smith like you did, I wouldn’t be standing here today. I’d be dead, buried out in the woods with no one even missing me. Don’t ever downplay what you guys do. Not ever. You save people. I’m proof of that.”
Skye let her arm dangle from Brayden’s shoulder. “Smith was a psycho.”
“Eventually he would’ve killed me. I’d never have left those woods alive. Not just that, but the cops would’ve still thought I killed my family. People like Smith make me sick.”
“I guess maybe I needed to hear that kind of pep talk today. Since Josh and I are taking Sierra in for her evaluation with Dr. Raintree, we’ll be MIA for most of the afternoon. After we’re finished at the shaman’s office, we’ll be heading out to where Brian Collins has his brother’s Jeep in storage.”
Josh began to direct Sierra to clean up their mess by putting the toys away. “We’re meeting the forensic lab there that we hired to pick it apart. They’ll be towing it to their facility near the airport. But first, we need to get a good look at it for ourselves, take our own pictures of what’s inside, and see if there’s anything obvious to the naked eye that the cops might’ve missed.”
Judy, who’d gone through years of her own therapy after surviving contact with a serial killer left her paralyzed with fear, wanted to know, “What do you expect this woman to do? What exactly are your expectations?”
“Good question,” Josh said as he gathered up Sierra and got to his feet. “But a Nez Perce shaman has to expect a client to see dead people now and again. Right? I’m just not sure a three-year-old should be experiencing that. We want help on that score. That’s my expectation anyway.”
“Same here. We should get going. I’m a little nervous about this,” Skye admitted before giving last minute instructions to the team. “Feel free to continue moving forward on the case while we’re gone.”
They were both nervous on the trip to Freemont, an artsy-craftsy, waterside enclave north of downtown, where Joanie’s office was located off Canal Street.
The sign above the door mentioned nothing about Joanie having a degree in child psychology. Instead, it focused on the Native American angle, displaying the totems associated with a practicing, modern-day, medicine woman.
The waiting room was stylish but empty, allowing for the privacy they’d requested. They didn’t have time to sit down and read a magazine before Joanie appeared in the doorway.
Dressed in a dark blue navy blouse that hung over a matching skirt and belted at the waist, Joanie had long raven black hair and soft brown eyes. She wore beads of turquoise and jade around her neck, and long feathered earrings hung from her lobes.
She reached out her hand in welcome. “Please come in and make yourselves comfortable.” To Sierra, she bent down to the little girl’s level and added, “I’m so glad you brought your spirit guide with you today. Is the wolf here to see me?”
Sierra bobbed her head. “Kiya protects us from the bad people.”
“And so she does,” Joanie replied. “Would you like to tell me more about Kiya?”
Sierra nodded. “Kiya loves my mom and dad, but she likes me best of all.”
Forty-year-old Joanie chuckled with childish enthusiasm. “I’m beginning to understand why.” She turned to Skye and Josh. “I’d like you both to listen in on our session but remain here so that I can determine how strong Kiya’s presence is within your daughter. There are headsets on each chair. Feel free to talk among yourselves, but I ask that you not interrupt in any way no matter what Sierra tells me. Are you okay with that?”
“Sure. I doubt she’s giving away any family secrets,” Skye stated, hoping that was true. Relinquishing her daughter’s hand, she watched as her baby marched into the other room. She let out an anguished sigh. “I hope we’re doing the right thing.”
“I guess we’ll know soon enough.”
After adjusting their headphones, they listened to Sierra’s conversation. And were blown away by the girl’s clarity and clear voice. Proud at certain points, embarrassed at others, they also learned how often the dead appeared to their daughter.
Too often, Skye reasoned without voicing that to Josh.
Two hours went by with them sitting there, hanging on Sierra’s every word.
When at last, Joanie brought Sierra back to the waiting room, the psychologist took the girl over to a corner and got her interested in the toys there.
Anxious to hear what Joanie had to say, Skye steered the woman over to where they could talk in the opposite corner. Arms crossed, she braced herself for the bad news.
Joanie picked up on the anxious mood. “There’s no need to come back tomorrow. I’m fairly confident I have a good enough handle on, not just Kiya’s presence in Sierra’s life, but how your daughter handles having her spirit guide around so much.”
“What about the dead people?” Josh murmured.
“We’ll get to that in a minute,” Joanie promised. “Relax. Your daughter is very advanced for her young age. I’m thinking that shines a light on how she’s been raised. You’ve done a marvelous job with her vocabulary skills. It’s obvious to me that Sierra is extremely cognizant of her surroundings and that includes her gift. It’s rare in one so young to see an appreciation for it. I’ve never seen abilities that strong at this age. She sees these spirits as a natural happening, not something to be afraid of, not something that scares her. That’s rare, too. I’ve seen adults who couldn’t cope as well as your daughter does. It’s also interesting to me that she doesn’t seem disturbed by every appearance.”
“Or the fact that they talk to her,” Josh supplied. “She told you about a woman who went missing five years ago and wants to be found.”
Joanie nodded. “In your line of work, I’d say whoever the missing person is, they’ve found the right conduit, even though you don’t want it to be Sierra. Although it’s highly unusual behavior in a child that young to see victims. But having said that, Sierra is not the least concerned about it. You heard that for yourself. She seems genuinely content with trying to help these people. Not unlike her parents.”
“Yes, but we’re worried that she’s seeing this one particular ghost a little too frequently,” Skye interjected.
“Which is why you must be careful not to transfer your apprehension onto her. Because she’s only three, Sierra doesn’t experience the same kinds of distractions and frustrations that adults do. The pressures of everyday life aren’t getting to her like they are the two of you. So, she isn’t doing anything to block them from showing up. At this point, she’s allowing these dead people in and there’s not much you can do to stop it.”
Skye made a noise in her throat. “But won’t there come a time when she gets fed up with these dead people interfering in her life?”
“Probably. But it until that happens, I’d suggest you two stop showing how much it distresses both of you. Relax and enjoy your daughter.”
“That’s your advice?” Josh charged. “We were kind of hoping you’d tell us how to channel Kiya away from Sierra, so she’d stopped being exposed to all this. It can’t be good for a three-year-old to see the darker side of life. She deserves to have a normal childhood. Shouldn’t she be focusing on learning her numbers or something?”
“Let me see if I understand this fully. You want to draw Kiya—the spirit guide and protector—away from your daughter? How exactly will that help Sierra? I’m not in the habit of encouraging spirit guides to abandon those they protect. It’s just the opposite. I encourage them to hang around. You want Kiya back, try to celebrate her existence more often, rejoice that she watches over all of you. Be grateful Kiya’s in your lives. The Nez Perce are a strong people. We’ve dealt with worse things th
an seeing dead people and trying to help find them.”
****
After leaving Raintree’s office, they headed back across Lake Union to where Brian Collins had stored Dave’s Jeep, a storage facility near his house in Capitol Hill.
The tow truck was already there along with the technician, a man by the name of Griff Gibbons, tasked to go over the car.
Brian met them at the gates to let them inside the compound. As he walked Josh and Skye to the unit, he talked about losing his brother. “That day, I blew him off. He wanted to meet for lunch and have a beer before the game before he met up with Lindsey. I didn’t go. Instead, I showed up at the game right before kickoff and didn’t give Dave another thought. That was the last time I spoke to him.”
It was painful to hear his agony.
“It wasn’t your fault Dave went missing. You should stop blaming yourself,” Skye consoled. “Whatever monster they encountered wasn’t your doing. You want to blame someone, blame him…or her.”
“I know. My mom tells me the same thing. You have no idea how grateful I am that someone is finally paying some attention to Dave’s disappearance. Anything you guys need, just let me know what I can do. I want to know what happened to him and I’ll do anything to find out.”
“We’ll do our best,” Josh promised, but the assurance sounded weak. “That last phone call with Dave, did he say anything that raised a red flag? Anything at all that sticks in your memory?”
“Well, there was this one guy at school who kept wanting to hang out with him. But for the life of me, I can’t remember his name. Believe me, I’ve tried.”
“A classmate? Was he weird in some way?”
Brian shook his head. “That’s just it. Ten years later, I have no idea. I know it’s nothing, but I could kick myself for not being more interested in Dave’s life.”
Once the tow truck pulled the Jeep out of its cocoon and into the driveway used for unloading purposes, they were able to walk around it with Griff making notes.
“What are the chances that any evidence is still viable?” Skye asked the technician.
“Won’t know until my team tests everything. And you can bet we will.”
Skye began taking photos of what was inside the vehicle. “How long will it take?”
“A week.”
“I was hoping for sooner. Could we make it less than?”
“If it makes you feel any better we’ll start on the car as soon as we get it back to the lab?”
She forced a smile. “Not really, but I guess I’ll have to settle for that.”
****
“Maybe we should celebrate Kiya more,” Skye suggested as they sat in traffic. “That’s a perfectly reasonable explanation why she left us for a bright, hospitable child who likes to play with her.”
“You mean instead of the two adults who spend a lot of time trying to shoo her away?”
“We don’t shoo Kiya away.”
“We kind of do.”
“You think that?”
“There’s a reason she readily attached herself to Sierra. What’s a spirit guide to do when she’s constantly ignored but seek out a more hospitable host?”
Skye shifted in the passenger seat to gaze at Sierra, who was carrying on a lively conversation with Atka, the dog nuzzling at Sierra’s feet. “Hard to believe we made her.”
Josh reached over and took Skye’s hand, placed a kiss on the palm. “Really? Not so hard to believe.”
“It’s just that she’s a wonder, our daughter. I never thought I’d be a mom. If the wolf wants to protect Sierra like she did me, I say we leave things the way they are. But…maybe, just maybe we ought to celebrate Kiya a bit more, too.”
“I agree with that. It’s what we should be doing anyway. I didn’t like being told to do it.”
“Yeah, me either. It’s a reminder.”
“Or a kick in the butt.”
The line of cars began to move back over the bridge. “There’s something that bothers me about Jennifer Mack going missing. How did the guy get her out of that apartment building? You know, she lived not far from where I used to live. Those walk-ups are difficult to get anything up and down the stairs, let alone an unconscious woman.”
“Are you sure there’s no elevator anywhere in the building? One that might be used for freight?”
“I’m not sure of anything. I’d hoped to talk to Deborah Mack about it.”
“Then the only way to figure out the ‘how’ is to go see Jennifer’s apartment.”
“Maybe Mrs. Mack could meet us there. I’ll call Harry and see if her plane has landed yet.”
Nine
They met Deborah Mack and Harry at Jennifer’s apartment. The fifty-four-year-old mom, who had survived two abusive relationships, didn’t have to be talked into the visit. A confident nurse who handled life and death ER situations daily didn’t seem the type who was scared of anything. But she was afraid now that something terrible had happened to her daughter.
“Jennifer’s never done anything like this before. Ever,” Deborah huffed out as she led the way up the stairs to the fourth floor. “That’s how I know someone took her. And after talking to Kaitlyn for almost an hour, I’m sure of it.”
Carrying Sierra in her arms, Skye recognized the apartment building right away, both outside and inside. It wasn’t the best the area had to offer, but it was affordable if you watched your pennies and could live on a budget. It sat at the retail core of all the hustle and bustle that made urban downtown living noisy and cheap. Throw in access to everything from buses to shopping, and you didn’t even need to own a car.
The walk-up was familiar to her, and so was the setup. She remembered her own little rundown studio not far from this very spot. It, too, had a tiny vestibule that doubled as both an entryway and a mail center with its slotted mailboxes that required a key. And without an elevator, dealing with the stairs after shopping for groceries could be a hassle, lugging your purchases up to your unit. You never wanted to buy too much at one time because you couldn’t haul the stuff up the stairs by yourself.
Yeah, thought Skye, this place brought back a ton of memories, some of them not so great.
She could empathize with a student living in a place like this. And it made her more determined than ever to bring Jennifer home alive.
Josh noticed the recognition on her face and the stubborn resolve. He could almost see the wheels turning in her head. “You three go on up. I want to check out the back and see if there’s a freight elevator.”
“I’ll go with you,” Harry offered, trailing Josh into the bowels of the building via a dark set of stairs that led to the lower level. They soon discovered the back entrance had poor lighting at best. “It looks like the lock on the door was broken several weeks earlier.”
Harry shook his head in disgust. “I’ve been to enough crime scenes in my lifetime to know that I hate the shitty landlords and their crappy maintenance companies in this city, parasites who jack up the rent, grab the tenant’s money and don’t do shit to take care of the upkeep on their properties. Skye used to live in a building like this. Made me worry about her all the time, long before you ever entered the picture.”
Josh slapped Harry on the back. “That’s why I love you, man. You took care of her before I ever set eyes on her.”
“Not that she needed taking care of, but I did what I could to make sure she stayed safe. Did you notice her face when she walked into this place? It’s almost a replica of her old building just down the street.”
“I did. As dumpy as that place was, she sure didn’t want to give it up. I had the damnedest time getting her to move out. You know she still owns that studio, right? She rents it out for peanuts to anyone who needs a clean place to live. Last summer, a woman showed up at the Foundation who’d been beaten by some asshole. She’s living there now.”
“It’s like a safe house then?”
“Pretty much. Safe for this woman anyway.”
“Skye always d
id have a soft heart. You knew that when you stuck a ring on her finger.”
“I did. I wouldn’t want it any other way.” Josh nodded toward the back door. “This place right here is how the son of a bitch got in.” He held up the busted lock. “Lousy security.”
“We could dust it for fingerprints, but it’d probably be a waste of time,” Harry grumbled in agreement as he looked around. “Not even a surveillance camera. He probably used the freight elevator to take her to a truck or a van he had waiting in the parking lot.”
Harry pushed open a back door and stepped out into the small concrete lot. “Do these building owners even care about the crime statistics for burglaries in this area, let alone rapes and murders because they don’t even bother to install decent locks? A middle schooler could get in here.”
“I doubt the landlords even give it a second thought,” Josh said, leading the way back up to street level. “Let’s go upstairs and see what Skye’s discovered in the apartment.”
“You know, just for meanness, I think I’ll suggest to Deborah she ought to sue this owner asshole.”
Josh glanced at Harry over his shoulder. “It’s Deborah now, is it?”
“Shut up, don’t even go there,” Harry snapped. “She’s from out of town. And we all know Seattleites are the friendliest bunch of people in the world.”
“If you say so.”
Deborah had used the spare key Jennifer had given her to unlock the door. “For the record, I did not want her to move in here. But she liked how everything was close by.”
“I used to live down the street.”
“You did? Well, then you know what kind of people hang out around here after dark.”
“I do. Yeah.”
“When she first got to Seattle, Jennifer tried living closer to campus with roommates. But they liked to party too much. And one thing my daughter is serious about is studying. Her goal is to pass the bar back home and become a lawyer. All she ever talked about was helping folks back home. That’s why she moved over here, to study hard and get her degree.”
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