Walker, page 7
Chapter 5
Ashley wanted to believe that sleep would come at some point tonight, but the evidence was proving otherwise. As she shifted uneasily once again, she got up and went into the living room to stare out of her window, searching for that sense of calm, that sense of complacency, or at least ease, but it wasn’t coming.
Something stirred on the horizon, something ugly, and, having seen it time and time again, Ashley was more than a little worried as to where this would end up. She waited until 6:00 a.m. before contacting McClintock. When he answered, she knew that he’d been up for hours already.
“So, you still aren’t at peace?” he asked.
“No,” she murmured. “It’s worse. The feeling is just plain wrong.”
He sighed. “I haven’t been able to get any sleep myself, so I can’t say I’m surprised.”
She sighed. “Is there anything I can do?”
“You should be the one to tell me that,” he replied, with a note of humor. “I don’t have anything to offer.”
“And that is a little dubious,” she murmured, “because, if anybody should have something to offer, it should be you, since you always have your finger on the pulse of what’s going on.”
“I thought I did,” he said, his tone calm, “but I’m not sure what’s happening right now. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but I don’t know what else to say.”
“It’s really just a matter of how we’re planning to handle whatever is coming at us.”
He hesitated and then asked, “And you’re sure of it, right?”
“Very sure,” she murmured. “I don’t know what it is. I just know it’s already on the way, … and it’s coming for me.”
“Time frame?” he asked, his tone that of somebody who had worked with her for a long time. It was brisk, lethal, and clearly meant business.
“Less than two days,” she replied. “I’m sitting in front of my window, trying to find that calm, that center, for whatever is happening.”
“When you get more information, let me know,” he stated. “In the meantime, I guess I have some information to look up. I’ll let you know what I come up with.” With that, he was gone.
She remained there, staring out into the beautiful early morning light. A beauty she knew was deceptive this time. Something very ugly was out there and heading toward her at a speed that left her gasping. That it was quite likely part of her history was disturbing, since she’d gone to a lot of effort in order to ensure none of that ever came back to her. That much was grace, that she had been free and clear of this for five years, but now something was catching up. Being free and clear was important, a salvation. Knowing there would be life after all this nightmare would give her some hope, but, so far, it didn’t look very promising.
Just when she thought she was calming down and life could get a little easier, her phone rang. She looked down at the number, hating the fact that she didn’t even need to see her phone screen to know it was Walker. She hesitated, then up popped a familiar voice in her head.
Really no point in not answering.
She groaned. “Great, thanks, Terkel.”
You’re welcome. You and I both know that, when certain things are coming toward us, they can’t be stopped.
She answered the phone and snapped, “What?”
Startled, Walker regrouped. “Good morning.”
“Yeah, good morning to you too,” she murmured. “I’m still not any happier to hear your voice than I was last night. Just putting that out there.”
“I’m sorry for that, but it really doesn’t matter. A life is at stake.”
“Unless that life is already lost,” she added, trying hard to stay calm at the thought.
“It is not lost,” he murmured, “but it could be, if we don’t get help.”
“What help is it you want from me? I was here, ready and available. I’m not sure I have anything more to give.”
He hesitated at that, then whispered, “Are you sure about that?”
She hated that somebody might understand what she’d gone through and what she was going through now. “What is it you want from me?”
“Anything you have to give,” he murmured, his tone warm and caring. “I didn’t expect this connection between us, you know? I wasn’t looking for it, but, if this is what’s ahead of me, I’m not walking away.”
She gave a startled laugh. “You don’t even know what this is. You don’t know anything about me,” she uttered, “and I’m not in any way ready to discuss something like that. If you want something in regard to this young man, and it’s something I can give, then I will possibly help. I say possibly only because I don’t know what you’re asking of me.” She added with finality, “Honestly, I’m not sure I have much actual help to give.”
“I’ve heard that a time or two,” he murmured. “Have you talked to McClintock this morning?”
“I have,” she replied, then waited.
Walker gave a half laugh. “Did he have any insights? Anything that could help?”
“No, at least nothing that he told me. Maybe you should talk to him yourself.”
“I will. I’m working on it.”
“Right, maybe you should work a little faster.”
“No need to be nasty. We are trying over here.”
“Of course you are, but it feels as if you expect me to have answers.”
“Not at all,” he corrected, startled. “It would be nice if you had something to offer, but, if you don’t, you don’t. I just know that it involves you, and I feel that you haven’t been completely honest with us. But, if you aren’t with us, you’re against us, and that’ll be a problem.”
His logic left her gasping. “Do you think it’s quite so easy?” she asked.
“No, I don’t think it’s easy at all, but I do think it’s doable, and fundamental things remain important. This young man has a chance at life, and he has family who loves him—a family who wasn’t even aware that he was making this journey because he believes so strongly in it but knew that people around him wouldn’t be of the same mind.”
“Of course most people aren’t. So, imagine what it’s like to be a healer.”
“I’ve been told about Cara and Clary, who work with Terkel. They are of the same opinion and have worked in the shadows, just as much as you have, knowing that you can’t really pop up and advertise what you do and that there is never enough of you to go around in a world that’s broken. But you can heal some things, for some people, some of the time, and, if there’s something you can do right now, we need you to do it.”
Long after she ended the call with him, Walker’s words still reverberated through her mind. She wasn’t even sure she could do anything at this point. She didn’t have anything, no direction to go, no sign of what to do. It was one thing if a person stood in front of you who needed healing, and it was a clear-cut case of cancer, with lymphomas or whatever was troubling that poor soul. But to have something nebulous, like a missing person, was not in her wheelhouse.
Just then Terkel’s voice popped into her head. Can you scan Frank from a distance?
She jolted at the idea. “I might be able to,” she said cautiously. “Why?”
It might help us to understand whether he’s alive or dead, do we have a chance to save him, or is it likely already too late, he murmured. Any information at this point is something we can use.
“Your people can’t do it?” she asked cautiously.
You are right there in close proximity. Plus, you already have a connection with him. I don’t know that I want to bring any other people into this, but, if I have to, I will.
She snorted. “In other words, if I don’t do it, you’ll go over my head and do it anyway.”
We’re not working for the government anymore, he reminded her. This is the free world, where it’s all about helping people because we can. Not because we must follow orders or do what we’re told. I get that you’re still dealing with an awful lot of aftershocks from that and that you probably haven’t had an easy time moving away from all that headache, but, right now, this isn’t about what other people are telling us to do. This is about us doing what’s right for that young man.
“Is he a friend of yours too?”
No, I don’t know him. He’s the brother of a friend, and, yes, these are good people. They fight the good fight all over the world every day, and, if there’s anything we can do for this young man, I would like to do it. I would at least like to tell his sister that we’ve done everything we can. I could bring in more boots on the ground, but that will take time.
“Right, and of course you would do that,” she murmured.
Look. You tried to hide, and, for a while, you even managed to stay hidden, but you can’t hide any longer. This world is here in front of us, and, whether we like it or not, the world has found you, and it won’t let go just because you want it to. I know that it doesn’t seem fair, but you and I both know it never matters when it comes to fair. And, with that, he disappeared.
Ashley sat here for a long moment, feeling different parts of her at war with each other. She wanted to help, but she’d never really done anything like this before. That didn’t mean it wasn’t possible. In fact, she was pretty-darn sure that not only was it possible but maybe quite doable. From what Terk had said, it sounded like he had people who could do something similar, but that maybe it was easier if in close proximity to the subject needing healing.
Professionally she was curious about that aspect, yet she knew that wasn’t the right reason to go into something like this, but how did one not find a certain level of curiosity as to what one could really do? However, she’d tamped down her abilities for the longest time because, as soon as her bosses found out she could do anything, she’d been forced into developing it at a rate much bigger and faster than was comfortable or even safe. It made her never want to experiment or to broaden her skills, staying hidden, frozen in time, rather than developing gifts that other people could exploit.
Yet Terkel was right. They were in a whole new world now.
She just hadn’t stepped into it.
She’d stayed hidden out in the ethers, doing her thing, without worrying about other people, because she’d been able to fly under the radar. That’s why she hadn’t advertised, why she hadn’t let anybody know, just in case the government ever found her again.
At that, she stiffened, then quickly sent McClintock a text message, asking if there was any chance the government was doing this.
He phoned her right away. “Do you really think that’s an issue?”
“I don’t know. It just came to my mind over something that Terkel has asked me to do.”
“Terkel,” he repeated, with wonder. “That man is a force to be reckoned with.”
“He is, and I’ll attempt to do something, but it brought to mind the fact that, if the government is involved, … I don’t want them finding me.”
“They can’t find you now,” he stated easily.
“You keep saying that, but I no longer have the same confidence.”
“Ah, you wound me,” he said instantly. “I’ve never let you down before, have I?”
“No,” she replied, “you haven’t. But, if this is something they are behind, it would mean that they’ve already found me.”
“They found you a long time ago. I just didn’t bother to tell you.”
She gasped. “What do you mean?”
“We had a talk, and I let them know just how long it would be before I allowed them into your life again,” he shared. “You were beyond traumatized and still trying to hide from them, so they decided it was much better to back off, than to sit there and bring on an all-out war.”
“You seriously convinced them to leave?” she asked in shock.
“I did, and I think they’ve held to it.”
She pondered that. “So, you don’t think it has anything to do with them?”
“I don’t,” he declared, “but I’m not so sure that we don’t have somebody who’s gone rogue.”
She winced at that. “The government was good at that too.”
“Doing what?” he asked curiously.
“Sending their people rogue, when they couldn’t do what they wanted to do. Yet there was always that expectation that we were supposed to do more. So many people had ideas that they could run and carry this off, but they needed to do it without the confines of the government overlords.”
“Exactly. So there is always that chance.”
“Right. I’ll try and see if I can do what Terkel’s asked of me, and, no, I won’t tell you what it is because it won’t make any sense anyway. But, if you hear any rumors from this point on, about the government or anything out there, please let me know.”
With that, she disconnected, settled into place, and slowly reached out to the young man who had contacted her earlier.
*
Calum looked over at Walker. “We need to get some food, while everybody else is checking up on Ashley’s background, her history, even McClintock’s info, and whatever else they can get their hands on. Terkel found an awful lot of stuff that’s been redacted, government databases wiped because of her involvement, but he’s got everybody trying to get as much as they can in the meantime. So, meanwhile, I need food.” He rubbed his stomach, which was already growling.
Walker added, “We also don’t know what the day will bring, so it’s time to tank up while we can.”
At that, Calum nodded, and the two of them walked to the door.
“Still feels odd,” Walker muttered.
They exited their motel room and headed up the street. Calum gave Walker time and space, as he obviously continued to ponder what was going on. “You’re not getting anything?”
Walker shook his head. “Nothing specific, no. Just lots of the same again.”
“Right, so no answers, but not anything obviously wrong.”
“No,” he replied cautiously, “but definitely an odd feeling.”
“Something on the ethers is moving,” Calum noted. “I can feel that.”
“You feel that?” Walker asked.
Calum nodded. “I can feel it. I’m just not sure what I’m feeling.”
“Right.”
“That’s the weird thing about this. Something is stirring out there.”
Walker asked Calum, “Have you guys ever come up against anybody else who has skills like us but are working on the wrong side of life?”
Calum nodded. “We have, but they are in the minority, which is a good thing. You would like to think that what we have is an advantage in that case, but it’s more that we’re up against somebody who already has an advantage, then things get pretty ugly.”
“I can imagine,” he murmured. “Is that what you’re sensing? Is it somebody else out there with energy?”
“I’m not sure what I’m sensing,” Calum admitted. “Honestly, it just feels off.”
“Off is one thing. Wrong is another way to phrase it, but none of it will do us any good until we get some real answers.”
Calum laughed.
“Maybe we’re picking up on something that Ashley’s doing right now. I don’t know what she’s up to, but definitely some weirdness is going on. I don’t really know how to explain it. It’s just plain weird.”
“Weird works,” Calum noted cheerfully. They walked into the little café and ordered the special listed on the board. As soon as they sat down, he smiled at the waitress, who didn’t look like she spoke much English, but she came back with a coffeepot in her hand, and they nodded, silently saying Yes, please. Then she left them.
Over coffee, Calum asked, “So, what are we supposed to do now?”
“Find the missing young man,” Walker stated. “And, for that, we track his whereabouts. He almost checked in at our motel, but then he left with some unidentified person. So now we have to figure out where he went from there.”
Calum nodded. “Terkel has checked, and no cameras are here. This is a small town, without much in the way of crime, so they don’t have many people at the sheriff’s office either. Therefore, we can’t expect much help along that line.”
“That’s not helpful,” Walker muttered.
“It never is,” Calum agreed, “but we’ve seen it time and time again, so I can’t say I’m particularly surprised.”
Walker didn’t say anything to that.
When their large breakfast arrived, they dug into the substantial platefuls of food. By the time they were halfway done, they were still pondering their next step.
Walker suggested, “Tracking where Frank’s been would be very helpful, but, so far, nobody has any idea. What about checking with some of the businesses around here?”
“It’s about the only move we have. We’ll need to walk around with his photo, looking for anybody who has seen him. We’ll be up against the same factors as before. We are strangers, and so is he, so potentially nobody’ll care.”
“I’m not so worried about that. I think there’s a good chance someone will care. Not everybody is an asshole,” Walker muttered. “It just seems like it sometimes.”
At that, Calum laughed. “You’re right. Not everybody is. Hopefully we’ll find somebody who’s seen Frank and who will give us a place to start. So, that’s settled. As soon as breakfast is over, that’s what we’ll do. Unless you have something else that needs to be done instead.”
Walker shrugged. “Not that I know of.”
Calum just nodded and didn’t say anything.
“Unless you’re trying to tell me something,” Walker added.
“I’m not trying to tell you anything,” Calum replied, with a laugh, “but it’s on you to speak up if there’s something you need to do.”
“Yeah, well, that would imply that I had more energy readings happening around my world right now that I could use, but all I’m getting is silence. No precog activity, no nothing. So, it’s back to good old-fashioned stomping through town, asking questions.”
