Could she really be trying to reach me from the grave? And, if she was killed, who would kill her and why? Jaymes mulled over the thought in his mind. The road stretched out before him like a strewn black ribbon, a river of asphalt having carved its way through a dense woodland area that made up the back part of Fort Lewis.
“Do you believe in ghosts Dad?” Dakota asked, her words hung in the air as he focused ahead. He heard her the first time she had asked, and he brushed aside the conversation that had ended fifteen minutes ago. “Dad?” she looked at him for a moment with curious eyes.
“I don’t know Dakota,” Jaymes finally relaxed as he watched the blood rush into the whites of his knuckles. He must have been gripping the steering wheel too tight as he listened to the tires whine against the concrete below them. “I never really given it a thought,” he reached over and patted her knee real quick. “I mean, I have heard stories, and that’s all I thought they were, just stories to scare people who were vulnerable in believing that such things exist…” he paused, slowing the vehicle, pulling to the side of the country road. Dakota followed his gaze as he shifted the vehicle into park, unbuckled his safety belt and was out of the driver’s seat. “Stay here,” he leaned into the vehicle, and then shut the door.
Dakota watched her father walk around the front of the vehicle and scan the densely thick woods. The evergreens were tall toothpicks, giving way to open brush as she reached into her purse, the sound of her cell phone distracted her from her father’s sudden interest.
“Hey mom, with dad right now and we are heading back to his place, what’s up?” she asked, after recognizing the number on the caller ID. When she ended the call, she turned and her father was frozen, staring hard at one specific area.
“Dad,” Dakota exited the vehicle to look where her father was staring but saw nothing. Her father’s complexion was pale. He had lit a cigarette, but it burned away. “Dad?” She placed her hand on his shoulder, giving him a gentle nudge, but his gaze was fixed on something. “Dad, what it is it?” She looked again and saw what looked like a mist that appeared then evaporated. “Everything okay?” she asked him. He turned to face her, color coming back to his face as he gave her a haunting look.
“Ellyn,” was all that came from his lips before Jaymes had pushed Dakota to the ground forcefully. His body covered hers as the sound of grinding metal filled the quiet air, an explosion echoing and heat suddenly overcoming them for a moment. He felt a searing pain in his side, then warmth before everything went black.
Chapter One –
Lacey sat in the waiting room of the ICU at Harborview Medical Center. A few other people sat in silence, some families were keeping vigil as she removed the blanket from her. Checking the time, she picked up her cell phone from the purse she had at some point in her cat nap kicked over. She then lifted the pack of cigarettes from her purse and retrieved one. She stood, stretched, and then headed outside into the courtyard and had a number dialed quickly as she lit up the butt.
“Chandler, it’s Lacey…” she waited for the groggy voice on the other line to respond, “I was wondering when you were going to come by the hospital?”
“I’m coming in a few minutes, any word?” he asked in his deep husky voice.
“Nothing, going to check with the nurse after I finish this cigarette.” She sucked in some air before taking another drag. “I don’t know if he is going to make it, it’s been almost a month now..” She fought back the tears.
“Hang in there kid,” Chandler said soothingly. She could hear him groan and move from the bed. “He is a tough one,” he reassured her.
“I will find out what I can,” She attempted a smile and ended the call. The cigarette was extinguished and she made her way back inside and toward the desk.
“Hi, was wondering if I could see Jaymes Sprague?” She asked softly. The gentleman behind the desk smiled and nodded as he picked up the phone. She turned to look at the others who were there as well, waiting, praying, and hoping that the person they were here for would come through the doors alive.
“You can go back Ms. McGuire,” The young gentleman pressed a button as she made her way through the ICU doors.
“How are you holding up Lacey?” the nurse greeted her with a
comforting smile. It was Sara, a young medical student from the University of Washington. “He is still stable, and we still have him in a drug induced coma while his body is healing.” She escorted Lacey down the corridor and into a single room where Jaymes rested.
“Thank you Sara,” Lacey smiled, hugged the nurse and then moved to the right side of the bed. She took his hand into hers and it felt cold. “Jay, its Lacey, wanted to check up on you. They say you are going to make it, but will have to wait and see. You took quite an impact…” her voice trailed off as she let the tears flow. “I love you Jay, I always have.” the only response back to her quiet voice was the beeping of the monitor. She then turned and pulled a chair over and sat down, her thoughts wandering in the vaults of the past she had at one time shared with Jaymes. The happiness the two of them had when Dakota was born, what he always did in making sure the three of them had a place to live, food on the table. She held onto that happy moment when Jaymes held their daughter the first time. Pushing the memory aside, she reached into her purse to pull out a book. As she did this, she felt a faint touch at the back of her neck, fingers caressing her lightly and a whisper in her ear.
He’s going to make it, protect him, and help him. Lacey looked behind her as she felt the hairs on the nape of her neck rise up. A chill crawled up her spine, causing her to shudder from the chill. She pulled the thin sweater tighter. When she stared at Jaymes, she saw a faint figure of a woman sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning forward and brushing a lock of hair from Jaymes’s forehead. Fear gripped her as she sat there paralyzed. The apparition looked over at her and there was a faint smile with a tear. Before Lacey could say anything, another nurse came in, checking the vitals of Jaymes.
“You okay?” She asked, turning to face Lacey.
“Yeah, just a lack of sleep,” Lacey smiled for a quick moment. The mist of a woman she had noticed was no longer there, but the faint scent of perfume lingered in the room. Shaking the experience from her mind Lacey, then, lost herself in the pages of the book.
* * * *
Mist swirled around him. Everything was dark and Jaymes just sat on a concrete bench looking over the fog rising and falling like waves of an ocean. Various forms of marble, concrete, and wood were exposed for a moment before being swallowed up by the thick cloud.
“Ellyn?” he whispered, but only a slight breeze replied back with silence. A chill crawled along his spine as he sat there, not able to move. He tried to recall events, but nothing would come to mind as he continued to stare into nothingness. The fog suddenly disappeared, as it always did since he found himself sitting on the bench. There was nothing again. “Ellyn,” he called out into the bleakness. Another whisper came on the breeze, this time it felt colder around him, saying his name.
“Jaymes,” it was faint, almost indistinguishable as he listened. “Jaymes, it’s,” the whisper faded into the darkness and the mist flooded his field of vision again. “Jaymes, it’s not your time,” he could hear it more as the white blanket of air swirled around him. He felt light, as he attempted to stand. Again, the fog burning off, this time exposing the same concrete, marble and wood statues.
He focused and began seeing faint images of people moving about. Some stared at him with angry haunting eyes, others looked through him as they came and went. The statues were clearing up and he began to see more detail. Words and numbers etching themselves onto the protruding formations that seemed to grow from the hard earth beneath him. People’s names, dates became these words and numbers, an invisible hand scribing them into the formations.
“Ellyn,” He called out again, hesitating to take a step, “where are you?” he asked. He could feel strength warming his body as he scanned the landscape of gravestones and ghostly figures moving about.
“I’m here Jay,” her voice called from behind him. It was distorted, as he turned to see her, but she was not there. “It’s not your time yet Jay, you have to go back,” her voice was muffled, distant again.
“Ellyn, where are you?” He fell to his knees, crying into the palm of his hands as rain fell around him. The shadows disappearing, the headstones fading. The only sound was that of rain against the earth. “What’s going on?” he asked, looking up to see her standing before him. She was wearing a white cotton button down shirt, bobby socks, but her eyes were cold and haunting as she stared at him. “Ellyn,” he stood to approach her but she vanished before him. “Ellyn!” he cried out as everything went black.
* * * *
Lacey set the book aside and looked at Jaymes lying helpless in the bed. “Jay, I will be back, Chandler will be here soon and I will bring him back…” her voice trailed off as the nurse came in.
“Ms. McGuire, a detective Mickey Chandler is here,” she whispered. Lacey nodded and took one last look at Jaymes before leaving. The plump nurse led her back out to the ICU waiting area and Lacey picked out the tall lanky gentlemen already heading outside to the courtyard. She soon joined him.
“Hey kid,” he said, turning to greet her with a boyish smile. “how is our boy holding up?” He asked.
“Sara said he is stable and is slowly healing.” She hung her head as she stared out toward downtown Seattle. Chandler leaned against the rail. “It’s taking way too long,” she spoke softly.
“Lace, he is a tough guy, takes a beating and keeps on a ticking, kinda like a Timex ya know,” he said, offering her a drag of his cigarette. She waved away the gesture.
“Have you found out anything about Dakota?” She finally asked, another wounded stab in her heart.
“Sorry kid, I haven’t. We know Jay took most of the debris from that accident, and we know Dakota was with him, but we don’t know who would have taken her.” Chandler stretched out his hand and massaged her shoulder for a moment. “Right now, as hard as it may sound, you need to be here when Jay comes too. I wouldn’t tell him about Dakota right away when he does.” Chandler tossed the butt to the ground and squished it out with the tip of his steel toed boots. “With the death of Ellyn, now this, the boy has too much to worry about when he comes back to the land of us living.” He half-smiled and walked across the courtyard to where a metal bench was. Lacey joined him.
“Yeah, I know you are right Chandler, but Dakota means the world to me, and I just…” she gripped the metal arm and squeezed it tightly. “I just want both of them back alive and well.”
“Trust me kid, I will find out who did this,” he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in. A light drizzle began to descend upon the city.
* * * * *
Dakota could only make out sounds as she shifted as
much as possible. Her body was sore from last night. His breath was still stinging her nostrils as she suppressed the nausea that rose up into her throat. Footsteps soon drew her attention as she kept motionless, the sound becoming louder until she felt a finger push back some locks of hair behind her ears.
“You were not supposed to do that last night,” the female voice exploded around her. Dakota, then, heard a slap echo before feeling hands on her wrists. The rope already burned into her skin, the mysterious fingers undoing the knot and finally releasing her hands from behind her back. The female voice was vaguely familiar, but Dakota could not place where she recognized it, nor who the owner of the voice was.
“Just be good and no one will harm you,” the woman’s breath was warm against her ear as she whispered. Too late, Dakota thought as she massaged her wrists, the pain crawled up her arms, the moistness of the rope burn searing into her flesh. A quick thought passed her mind, but she remained silent. “Soon, this will be all over with,” came the female voice again, this time distant and then the sound of heels clicking against the floor. Within moments, the room was silent and she let out a heavy sigh. Now that her hands were free, Dakota removed the blindfold and looked around the room that she had awakened in a few weeks ago.
A simple twin bed was pushed against the wall, a bathroom with a shower made up the left part of the room, a small sink and single cabinet was across the room and made up the opposite wall. The door itself was narrow and metal. And a television set sat on two milk crates at the other end of the room. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember everything that had happened and took in several deep breaths, allowing herself to meditate for a moment and ground herself.
“Dakota,” another female voice called out her name. This one was softer, a gentle whisper that she came to recognize as a comfort.
“You’re back,” Dakota spoke into the empty room. “I need to find a way out of here and get back to my father,” she kept her composure, not allowing herself to breakdown. Only silence filled the room for a moment.
“Dakota,” this time the voice was much more audible. “Dakota, Jay…” then faded. She looked around the room, examining every detail until her eyes focused on the sink across from the bed. It’s just my imagination, my mind playing tricks on me. She quietly spoke, leaning back against the wall. Her eyes never leaving the sink.
“I am not crazy,” She finally spoke allowed. Suddenly, a mist appeared where she was staring. Dakota closed her eyes for a moment, took a couple deep breaths and opened them. The room became cold as a faint figure of a lady stood at the sink.
“Dakota, your father…” then nothing again, the mist vanishing and the room warming up. The hair on the back of her neck rose up as her flesh crawled with the pins and needles sensation that flooded her body. She sat there, rubbing her eyes, trying to comprehend whether she was hearing and seeing things that actually was never there.
I have to find a way out of here, she quietly spoke, examining the room carefully. The only window to the room is opened, but bars prevented any escape. Turning, Dakota knelt on the bed and looked out through the bars. Beyond the window as a narrow side yard. A tall fence stretched the length of the building, from what she could tell. She tried to pull on the two bars her hands were wrapped around, but they would not give. She gave up, pressing her forehead against the cold steel. The sensation of fingers brushing through her hair caused her to spin quickly, but no one was there. The same feeling that she was not alone in the room haunted her.
“Who are you!” she cried out, wiping tears from her eyes as she pulled her knees to her chest. The sound of footsteps echoed outside, stopped before the door, and within moments, the door opened up and two figures in dark clothing and masks entered.
“Quiet,” The male voice spoke harshly as Dakota stretched her legs out. “Who are you talking with in here?” He approached, a leather strap in his hand. Dakota looked into the man’s eyes.
“No one, unless you believe in ghosts..” before she could finish the leather strap whipped through the air, striking her against the side of her cheek. The sting brought tears to her eyes as she fell to her side. Instinct exploded into her body, fueled by adrenalin as she sat back up, rubbing where she was hit. The second figure stood guard at the door, his back to the two of them. Dakota smiled and stood.
“I dare you to try that again,” She clenched her fists as she stood, staring him down.
“Oh, you like pain don’t you bitch?” The assaulting male seethed. He whipped the leather strap back but Dakota caught it and had it wrapped around her hand and wrist. She then kicked her leg in an almost roundhouse kick, catching him against the side of his jaw. The man fell to the side as she jerked the strap from his hand. The second man turned, but before he could do anything, she had already sent the end of the strap flinging through the air, striking him. She landed a fist into his groin and sent her knee into his midsection. Both men were on the ground. Dakota ducked out of the room and found herself in a narrow hallway of what looked like an old house. She knew that she had to think fast, to get out of there and headed down the hall as the two men were already staggering to their feet.
Dakota came to the corner of where the hall ended and emptied out into a bare living area where a figure with long hair stood, talking on the phone. She looked behind her and the two men were already coming from the room. When Dakota turned to make her move, the person in the living room was already turned around looking at her. A smile crossed the face of her captor. Dakota’s escape attempted was thwarted as she was knocked unconscious.
“Take her back into the room, and this time, make sure she is not able to escape like that again. Bind her up.” The third person stated.
“You got it,” the one man answered and nodded to his partner. The two of them carried Dakota back into the room, depositing her onto the bed and bound her hands at the wrists,
and her feet at her ankles. They, then, through the rope over a metal pipe that hung from the exposed part of the ceiling, stretching her hands above her head. The two men then left her, securing the door and made their way back into the empty living room.
“Get your things together, one of you stay here and watch the place, the other is coming with me.” The third participant said. Both men nodded.
* * * * *
Mickey Chandler examined the scene of the accident. Angela Harris looked on, shivering against the cold air. “Are you going to take all day?” She asked, watching the mist expel from her cold lips. “It’s getting rather cold out here.”
“In a moment,” he replied, kneeling against the hard earth.
night would soon fall, but Chandler wanted to find something. “Jaymes pulled his vehicle over and parked there,” he pointed a few yards behind them. “The other vehicle came from that direction, losing control and almost hitting Jaymes’s parked vehicle head on.”
“Even the police report said that was what happened Chandler, it was an unfortunate accident. You and I know that these country roads can get pretty foggy during this time of year.” Angela said, rubbing her shoulders.
“Yeah, but here is where a third vehicle came to stop.” He looked over the tire tracks, his eyes scanning the earth, gravel and dirt.
“It was probably the person who saw the accident, stopped and called 911,” She replied. “Listen, Chandler, this place is starting to give me the creeps.” she came close to where he is kneeling. “We have been over this scene hundreds of times. It was just an unfortunate accident that caused a fatality to the driver.” She touched his shoulder as he drew is finger over the earth.
“True, very true, however, do you not find it odd that only Jaymes was found at the seen, when we know his daughter Dakota was with him?” He stood, stretched out his legs, his knees cracking. “And do you not find it even odder that the anonymous caller to 911 dispatcher did not stick around?” He paused, shrugging out a cigarette from the pack of non-filters and light up. “Most people would stick around, do what they can to help out, or wait for the WASP, or sheriff to appear.” he took an engaging long drag from the butt and looked over the whole scene. “Like I said, we know Dakota was with Jaymes, but when the police, ambulance and fire showed up, Dakota was no where to be found.”
“Maybe she wasn’t with him, or, she went to get help,” Angela offered, pacing around. “Chandler, I don’t know what you are hoping to find, and I know that Jaymes is your best friend, but as tragic as this is, why are you focusing on his daughters disappearance.” Angela looked around the wooded area. “Maybe she wandered onto Fort Lewis Property and is lost?”
“That could be, and Fort Lewis is not a small parcel of land either. However, she would have eventually come across some unit that is on bivouac.” Chandler stated.
“How do you know that?” Angela asked.
“Take a listen,” He said. Both stood quiet for a moment and then sounds of explosions could be heard in the distance. “That’s the army playing war.” Chandler headed toward his vehicle. “But it is getting late, let’s get going.” Angela followed him and climbed into the passenger side of his vehicle. Chandler tossed the spent cigarette to the ground and caught the glimpse of a woman standing just inside the perimeter of the woodland. He closed the door, leaned in through the open window. “Stay here,” he then looked back and headed to where the lady stood, staring at him.
“You okay?” He asked, cautiously approaching. There was no response, but the woman held his gaze as he kept coming closer. “You shouldn’t be out here,” He said, stopping just a few yards from where she stood. “Dakota?” He asked, trying to get a better glimpse of her.
“Chandler,” The woman called out in an eerie voice. “Help…” she spoke and then faded into the woodlands. Chandler took off after her, but found that there was no longer a woman where he thought she had turned and started walking. His skin began crawling as he fought the sensation and headed back to the car. When he climbed in and fired up the mechanical beast, he stared at Angela, her face was pale, and her fingers were clenching the dashboard. “Ang?” he said, “You okay?”
“Jaymes needs your help,” Her voice was haunting as she turned to look at Chandler. “Dakota’s life…” She attempted to say and then her complexion returned and Detective Harris’s head lolled against her chest for a moment. “Chandler, I need to go home,” she said softly. Chandler didn’t argue as he spun the steering wheel and made a u-turn onto the road, heading back to the office.
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