Walker, page 15
“Yet how many people does she know?”
“McClintock,” he muttered, his tone low. “I can’t see who it is, but that bullet? It just fires.”
“You don’t see anything past that?”
“No, I don’t. It’s almost as if …” He tried to pull the images forward. “I don’t know whether the bullets are coming back at us or …” Then he stopped again and shook his head. “My vision literally stops when the bullet hits her chest. Anything after that is just my imagination, trying to fill in the blanks,” he added bitterly. “I already know to my detriment that doesn’t work out so well.”
“Of course not,” Calum murmured. “However, it also doesn’t mean that everything you’ve seen, that what you’re seeing is wrong. It just means that we have to be very careful. Also, it means that we do find the missing men, if that’s what you’re seeing.”
Walker considered that and nodded. “Yes, I think we find them, and she’s working on them, and then somebody is either trying to stop it or stop her or maybe one missing guy was used as a trap to get her there,” he guessed, looking at Calum helplessly. “I can’t pinpoint it any more than that.”
“That’s fine,” Calum replied, “as long as we know there is a possible trap and approach it as a definite trap and acknowledge that somebody she knows and likes is looking to kill her.”
“But who does she know outside of McClintock?”
“We’ve narrowed everything down to him, but that doesn’t mean he’s the one.”
“No, and, as soon as she comes out of this healing session, we’ll get all these questions answered.”
“We let her complete that healing because of Frank, but time is running out, and we need more answers.”
At that, she stepped into the room, her face pale. “More than that,” she stated, “time is running out for Frank too. I’ve helped him as much as I can from a distance, but he’s not doing well at all. We need to rescue him, and fast.”
Chapter 11
Ashley held out her hands, still buzzing, then walked over to Calum and placed them on either side of his head. “I can get rid of that headache for you.”
He looked at her, then shuddered, as the waves of energy washed over him.
She stepped back after a moment, and he blinked with a dazed relief. “I’ve had a bunch of healing done in my life because of the people I work with and the injuries I’ve sustained, but that was pretty amazing. I’ve never had a headache disappear that quickly before.” He looked over at her with a warm smile. “Thank you.”
She nodded, then walked over to Walker. “Sit.” He glared at her, as she pointed to the chair. “Don’t make me force you, now sit.” His jaw dropped, and she pushed the chair up against his knees, and he sat down hard. “You haven’t had any sleep, you’re groggy, and now you’re punchy from that last vision,” she declared. “Which woke me out of my healing trance, by the way, so thanks for that.”
He winced. “Sorry. Sometimes the visions are pretty strong.”
“Of course they’re strong. Plus, you’re seeing ugly things.”
“How many people here do you know?”
“I know people from the village. I know McClintock, of course, and people I’ve seen in passing, a couple of my neighbors, just normal people,” she replied.
“In your previous life, you’ve got this one man you know, Najor, but he’s a pain in the ass, so you wouldn’t greet him with a smile, would you?”
“No, of course not,” she said.
“How about anybody else?”
“I stay in touch with one but not because of work,” she added. “It’s because of his connection to a friend of mine who died from work.”
“Explain,” Calum barked.
She sighed. “A good friend of mine, who did the same kind of work I do, was killed on the job. She had a sixteen-year-old son, and I have stayed in touch with him,” she explained. “He’s about the only one I would have anything to do with.”
“Is there any chance that he would be the one who would come to shoot you?”
She frowned at him. “I don’t know why he would.” She shook her head, even as her hands worked on Walker’s head. “I mean, no reason for him to shoot me. I didn’t have anything to do with his mother’s death.”
“But does he know that?”
“I don’t know,” she murmured. “She wasn’t supposed to be there, but they needed somebody to give them a hand. She wasn’t quite as gifted as I was, and I was quite busy on something else at the time, and I wasn’t expected there in time, so they swooped in and picked her up. As it was, the entire team was set up. It was a trap, and she died. So, I don’t know who was behind that one. Maybe they figured it out after I left. We all grieved, and we had to move on. It was quite a few years ago now.”
“But what if he didn’t move on? What if the son wasn’t able to, or what if he heard some information or details that weren’t correct?”
“I don’t know,” she said, with a startled expression. “Again, I don’t know why he would blame me. I had nothing to do with it.”
“Except that you were the one who typically would have gone instead of his mother.”
“Maybe,” she agreed slowly, “but I certainly can’t guarantee that would have happened. You have to be wrong. I think you’re reaching, when you’re going down that pathway.”
“Maybe so,” he acknowledged, “but we’ll figure it out. You just keep coming up with information.” They continued to ask her question after question, and, by the time they were done, she was tired, angry, and sad.
“Look. We’ve been over this time and time again,” she complained. “I was part of a team of six, and it got to the point where I was just sick about my involvement in a lot of things. At first, I was cleared to go to a different program, but, in the end, I was never allowed to leave. McClintock was in the program with me, and we were both basically prisoners of the system, of our bosses, and we couldn’t get out. When we finally did manage to break free, it was not in an easy way,” she shared, taking a harsh breath. “We left with bad blood among all of us, and we disappeared from the face of the earth.”
She took a moment to collect herself, then added, “We came here, more or less just the two of us. As far as I know, everybody else was gone and busy doing their own things. I’ve kept in touch with Lawson because I know Alissa would want me to. Yet he doesn’t have any reason to come after me. I can’t imagine that he would. At least I don’t want to,” she admitted, rolling her eyes. “And I get that doesn’t mean it’ll happen that way. Hey, what I did want to tell you is, when I was doing the healing, before you jerked me out so abruptly, I did get another energy there and potentially a third.”
“What can you tell us about it?”
“I can’t be sure. It was faint, but, more important, I did get the feeling that they aren’t that far away from here.”
At that, as if she’d dropped a complete bombshell, both men bolted to their feet and faced her.
She threw up her hands. “What? Why that reaction?”
“Because we need to get there and fast,” Walker yelled. “I don’t suppose you recognized Riff anywhere.”
She shook her head. “No. Why?”
“Because Riff is over there checking out McClintock’s place. Remember?” he asked. “We don’t want something to happen to him either.”
“No, of course not,” she mumbled, slowly looking at him in shock. “I wish you guys would get off the topic of McClintock being involved,” she murmured. “That would really not be what I want.”
“It might not be what you want, but does he have any old buildings, anyplace that he doesn’t use but maybe somebody would know he has and could lay out a scenario so it looks like he’s a culprit but isn’t?”
She stared at him for a moment, processing that idea, and then nodded. “He has a pretty big homestead, and a business used to be there, so there are outbuildings, sheds, and things like that,” she murmured.
“So close. Really? But why wouldn’t I have noticed or felt it, if it was this close?” Walker asked.
“But how close is it really?” Calum asked her.
She shrugged. “Eight, ten miles, I think, driving. But walking distance? It’s not that far. That’s why I told Riff he could just walk over the hill.”
“That’s what he did, but what if somebody else had been keeping track of you and your place, using McClintock’s place as a base, without his even knowing about it?”
“It would take an awful lot for him to not know something like that,” she said. “If there’s one thing that you don’t do, it’s surprise him. Security and protection is what he does. In our team, he was the guard. He was the one person who knew where everyone in our team was and kept track of all of it, all the time.”
“What if,” Walker asked, “like you, he put up walls to stop everybody from coming in?”
“Yeah, we both had to,” she stated, staring at Walker. “What difference would that make?”
“What if he also put up the same walls, so that nobody could find him, and he doesn’t know that they’re even there knocking on his mental door?”
*
Walker looked over at Calum. “Do you have any locators on your team?”
Surprised, he gave a clipped nod. “Yeah, we have one who just joined the team. Langdon. He’s our newest addition to the family. In terms of energy and specialty, locating is exactly what he specializes in.”
She frowned at both of them. “What do you mean by a locator?”
“Somebody who specializes in telling us where to go,” Calum said, and then he laughed, “although lots of people specialize in that at times.”
She gave him a ghost of a smile. “Any chance of his doing it remotely?”
“I don’t know. Let’s find out.” Calum quickly picked up the phone and contacted Terkel, asking if Langdon was there. When Langdon came on, Calum put it on Speakerphone. “Langdon, it’s Calum. We have a slight problem here in that everybody was involved in something from a long time ago, and they’ve kept up pretty strong walls, meaning that they don’t necessarily know who and what’s going on, but there is a suspicion that some young men, injured or sick, are being held captive close by. Can you do any locating?” he asked. “Remotely, I mean? Is that possible?”
“I can tell you that it’s up behind you,” he muttered. “I don’t know what I’m feeling, but there is a very strong suggestion of up and over. Does that make sense?”
“Oh, it makes more sense than you know. Thanks. Give us about an hour, and we may contact you again.’
“Listen. I can continue to text as I get information,” Langdon shared, “as long as you stay on your phone and stay together. Once you split up, that doesn’t work because I won’t know who it is that I’m giving directions to.”
“Good enough,” Calum replied, getting to his feet. “It’ll probably be just me heading out.”
“No,” Ashley said.
At that, Walker looked over at Ashley.
“I’m coming too,” she declared. When he hesitated, she shrugged. “If they’re hurt and are in need of healing, I’m the one who can do something about it. Also, McClintock won’t throw as much of a fit if I’m there.”
“Are you sure about that? This is the first confirmation we’ve got that he might be involved.”
She gave him a dry look. “Confirmation because somebody says up and over?” she asked.
He shrugged and gave her a ghost of a smile. “And what happened to the part about maybe somebody’s using his place, and McClintock doesn’t know? Remember what it was like when you worked, when you trusted implicitly?”
Her frown was immediate, and she gave a nod right back. “That’s another reason why I need to come,” she stated. “I can’t take the chance that McClintock will get violent if it’s just you guys.”
“Fine, can we drive there?”
She shook her head. “No, he does have barriers up for that.”
“Interesting,” he murmured. “Up and over it is then.” Not that anybody had any idea what that would mean except her, but Walker was more than ready to do what needed to be done in order to put an end to this. And, after he was packed up, he turned to look at her, as she put on her hiking boots. “Are you sure about this?”
She gave him a look.
“Right, not to mention the fact that he’s your friend.”
“He’s my friend, and I trust him,” she said.
“And you trust him because he’s always been good to you.”
“Of course. That’s how trust works,” she stated, staring at him. “I get that you’re still looking at him as a suspect in this and that I couldn’t confirm that it wasn’t him, but I’m not ready to throw him under the bus.”
“Good,” Walker replied. “That means, when it comes to a relationship between you and me, you won’t do the same thing to me.” Then he tossed her a big fat grin and walked out, leaving her gasping in his wake.
Chapter 12
Ashley glared at Calum, who was trying to hide his grin and failing, as they stepped out the door. She muttered. “Is he always like this?”
He shrugged. “Oh, I’ve never seen him like this,” he admitted. “Honestly, as far as I understand, he’s been completely against having a relationship. So obviously he’s feeling something he can’t walk away from.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t walk,” she muttered, glaring at Walker’s back, as he walked strong and steady in front of her.
“I think he also understands resistance, and that sometimes it’s useless, particularly when a strong bond is there.”
“Yeah, but, just because there’s a bond, doesn’t mean I will act on it,” she stated, knowing that, as much as she wanted to, she still wasn’t sure she was ready.
“No, and sometimes we’re never ready. Sometimes we just do it anyway.”
She stiffened and then relaxed.
“It’s still your choice. Don’t feel as if you’re being pressured into anything, but you should know that the connection between you is obvious. I can see it from a mile away,” he told her, with a smile. “But, again, that doesn’t mean you have to act on it.” And, with that, he nudged her to pick up the pace a little bit, as Walker was a little farther ahead of them than he liked.
“Maybe,” she muttered, under her breath.
“Maybe?” Calum repeated.
She contemplated this relationship on the horizon, as she headed to McClintock’s place. It was so much harder to sort out her feelings with all this other mess going on. She didn’t want to deal with it right now, but she knew that everything would come to a head, once this scenario was over. That was the first time she had admitted there was an end coming toward them, and maybe there was. She just didn’t know how it would go. If it ended badly, it could impact her and her future in a bigger way than she really wanted to acknowledge, but how could it not?
If McClintock was involved, it had the power to hurt her at a very deep level. If he wasn’t involved, and he was just as much of a dupe as everybody else, that was a different story. It was beyond her to think about it, not when all this was going on, yet that voice in the back of her mind wouldn’t be silenced.
Calum continued. “Maybe? That’s an excuse, another excuse, and you know perfectly well there is a potentially great relationship here for you with somebody who is already on your same wavelength, someone you already know and have acknowledged as special. You’re just scared. Scared of what you’ll find, scared of what might happen, scared of the future. Isn’t it time to stop being scared?”
She shuddered, a physical movement that brought a concerned look from Calum. She smiled and shrugged it away. “I’m fine. Somebody just walked over my grave.”
She had said it so lightly, as a way to knock away his interest in the relationship discussion and to focus it on something else, but he still stopped and looked at her.
“You know, in our world, when somebody says that …” He stopped, and she was not sure why.
She stared at him. “When somebody says that, … what?”
“I’ve been operating with a very specific team, and we say things that are probably very different from your team. It generally means that energy is moving, and that somebody is out there attacking somebody else.”
“There’s always somebody out there attacking somebody else,” she stated, trying hard and failing to keep the bitterness out of her tone. “I think that’s one of the things that I struggled with the most. The never-ending brutality of this world that we’re supposedly protecting.”
“And you’re not alone on that,” Calum agreed. “A lot of us have the same issues.”
“What about him?” She nodded toward Walker, who still strode ahead, his gaze ever searching the forest around them.
“Him too, but he’s the one who recognized what was going on over here—from America. He’s the one who contacted Levi, and that’s how we found out about Frank.”
“Just out of the blue like that?” she asked.
“I don’t really know,” Calum admitted, “but, once he started getting these visions that wouldn’t leave him alone, he knew he had to do something about it.”
“It was either do something about it or go mad,” she said, filling in the blanks. “Yes, I know, been there myself at times.”
“But you’re not a precog, right?”
“No, I’m a healer. However, once you know that somebody needs medical attention, and you don’t help, you’re withholding the care that somebody else could use. It almost becomes a crime on an energetic level because you’re refusing to give them what they need, and that is devastating. For a healer,” she added, with a hard finality, “it’s like turning against everything you believe in.”
“Yet people do it,” he reminded her.
“Usually when they’re forced to or when they’re in a position of having to choose between one or another as to who gets to live or die, which is one of the worst scenarios.” Her tone broke, even though she tried so hard. She stopped for a moment and took several deep breaths.
