Search and Rescue Read online

  Helen opened the door, wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Her face was tense with worry. She looked me over as if she wasn’t sure what to make of me. I was still wearing the red miniskirt and high heels.

  “I’m sorry to wake you, Mrs. Miller,” I said. “I’ve come about your daughter.”

  Her face lit up with hope. “They found Amber?”

  “No, I’m afraid not.”

  Her shoulders fell. Then she grabbed my arm, panicked. “They didn’t find her body, did they?”

  I shook my head. “I’m not from Search and Rescue, Mrs. Miller.”

  “I’m Helen,” she said. “Call me Helen.”

  I extended my hand. “I’m Claire Abbott. I work for the Black Lake Times. We talked when you first opened your bakery.”

  “Yes, of course. I remember you now.”

  “May I come in?” I asked.

  She started to close the door. “I can’t talk about Amber right now. I just can’t.”

  “I’m not here to talk about Amber for a news story.”

  She shook her head in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

  “I just want to help find her. May I see Amber’s room? I need a personal item, something that belongs to her.”

  Helen’s voice rose in alarm. “You want to snoop around in my daughter’s things?”

  “No, I—”

  “What do you want?” she cried. “Why are you here?”

  “I had a vision,” I told her. “I knew where Amber was, at least at that moment. Matt and I went up to Little Mountain viewpoint to find her, but she was gone.”

  Now Helen grew angry. “Why are you doing this to me? Go away!” She slammed the door in my face.

  “Mrs. Miller,” I called. “I don’t think Amber is simply lost. I think someone kidnapped her.”

  I heard her footsteps pause partway up the stairs.

  “She was wearing a charm bracelet,” I called through the door. “One of the charms was a little boat.”

  I heard her step back down the stairs. She opened the door. “How could you possibly know that?” She hesitated, then opened the door wide. “Come in,” she said.

  I followed her up the stairs and into the apartment, a loft. I could see the doors to the upstairs bedrooms from the open space below. The kitchen and living area were in one room with a very high ceiling. The place smelled of bread from the bakery below.

  “You said you need a personal item,” she said.

  “Yes, to trigger a vision.”

  “You’re some kind of psychic?” she asked.

  “No. At least, I don’t think so. I can’t tell the future or anything. I just get these hunches. Earlier when I touched your daughter’s jacket, I saw her. I knew she was at the Little Mountain viewpoint. But, like I said, when we got there she was gone.”

  “How do you know she was really there in the first place?”

  “I just know,” I said. “I saw her.”

  “In your vision.” She raised an eyebrow.

  “Look, I know how crazy this sounds,” I said. “But please let me try. I know I can help find your daughter. I just need to hold something that belongs to Amber.”

  Helen nodded her head as she thought that over. Her face was pale with grief. “I’m desperate,” she said. “I’ll try anything.” She ushered me to the stairs. “This way,” she said.

  I followed her up to Amber’s bedroom, a typical teenager’s room. The walls were painted pink and purple. The same colors were on the bedding. Amber had left her jewelry, makeup and clothes spread all over.

  “What do you need?” Helen asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Anything.” Then I remembered what Mom had told me. “Something she wears all the time.”

  “She wears this necklace every basketball game.” Helen held up a small silver heart on a chain. “Her dad gave it to her before he died. She says it brings her luck.”

  “Perfect,” I said. I took the chain from her and focused on Amber’s dresser mirror. I felt that strange feeling again, as if I was rushing down a waterslide. And there, in that mirror, I saw Amber.

  This time she lay on a floor in a small room. The floor was moving up and down and from side to side. I squinted, trying to make sense of what I saw. There was a seat beyond her.

  “She’s in a van,” I said.

  “What kind of van?” Helen asked.

  As soon as she spoke, I lost the vision. “I’m not sure,” I told her. “An older one.” I shook my head. “There was something on the walls. Carpet. But that doesn’t make sense.”

  “That makes perfect sense,” said Helen. “Doug drives a van like that, with shag carpet on the inside walls.”

  “Doug Conner?” I asked. “Amber’s old boyfriend?”

  Helen nodded. “He fixed up his van like one of those 1970s custom vans. He even has a bed in the back. When they were still dating, I told Amber I didn’t want her in that thing. You can understand why.”

  I sure did. The kid had a bedroom on wheels. “Amber did break up with Doug though, right?” I asked.

  “Yes, a couple of weeks ago. Doug wasn’t very happy about it. He turned up at the bakery, trying to talk to her. I had to tell him to leave.”

  “Did you tell Matt about that?” I asked.

  “Well, no. It didn’t seem important. Doug didn’t come back after that. Amber said he was behaving himself at school. He left her alone.”

  “Do you have any reason to believe he would hurt her?”

  “I don’t know. Amber said he pushed her once during their breakup argument. He’s a moody kid. I thought he was depressed. I worried he was taking something.”

  “Drugs?”

  Helen nodded. “I talked to Amber about that. She thought he sometimes got into his Mom’s pills. I urged her to stay away from him for that reason. Eventually, she listened.”

  Helen thought for a moment. “Amber just started seeing Liam Peterson this past Friday,” she said. “I suppose that could have made Doug jealous. I know he was suspicious of Liam’s interest in Amber in the past.”

  “Jealous enough to kidnap her?”

  Helen put her hand over her mouth. “I don’t know,” she said.

  She pointed at the necklace in my hands. “Do you know where they are now?” she asked.

  “They were driving down a logging road, through trees. I think they’re still in the Little Mountain wilderness area.”

  “Try again,” said Helen. “Maybe you can see more.”

  I squeezed the necklace and willed a vision to come, but I saw nothing. I put the necklace down and tried a comb, a set of earrings, a bracelet. “I’m not getting anything,” I said.

  Then I remembered what Mom had said—I couldn’t force myself to have a vision. I could only remote view when I was relaxed. Here I was, standing with a grieving mother and trying to prove I wasn’t crazy. I was anything but relaxed.

  “At least we know Amber is in Doug’s van,” Helen said.

  “So you believe me?” I asked.

  “Maybe,” she said. “I don’t know how else you could have known about Amber’s bracelet, or the inside of that van.” She picked up Amber’s necklace and held it out for me to take with me. “Yes, I think I do believe you.”

  I sighed with relief. “Okay,” I said. “Now all we’ve got to do is convince Matt.”

  SEVEN

  Snow fell hard as Helen and I arrived at the search-and-rescue camp. We jumped out of my car and ran to the bonfire where Matt was talking to a group of searchers.

  As I reached Matt, my heels slipped in the snow, and he grabbed me just before I fell. That was the second time I’d ended up in Matt’s arms that evening. “I told you to stay out of my camp,” he said.

  I smiled weakly at the volunteers around us. I saw them whispering to each other and eyeing my short skirt and heels. They were all in full winter gear.

  “Can I have a moment?” I asked Matt. “In private?”

  He shook his head. “I want you ou
t of here, now.” Matt turned to Helen. “What has Claire been telling you?”

  Helen put a hand on his arm. “Listen to what she has to say, Matt. She can help us.”

  “I know why you can’t find Amber on the trails,” I told him.

  “And why is that?”

  I looked again at the volunteers and stepped away, waving for Matt to join me. I didn’t want the rest of the crowd to hear what I had to say. Helen followed us.

  “All right,” Matt said. “You got your privacy. Now, what is it?”

  I hesitated. I was about to accuse a teen of a serious crime, without proof. “Amber is in Doug Conner’s van,” I said. “I think he’s moving her from place to place so you won’t find her.”

  “We’re back to your kidnapper story, are we? I suppose you saw this in one of your visions?”

  “I did.”

  “I believe her, Matt,” said Helen.

  Matt’s voice softened as he talked to her. “Helen, you’re tired. Your daughter is missing. That kind of stress will mess with your mind. We have no reason to believe Doug took Amber.”

  “Claire saw the inside of Doug’s van in her vision,” Helen told him. “She described the shag carpet on the walls.”

  Matt shook his head. “How long has Doug had that van?”

  “About five months.”

  “Isn’t it more likely Claire just saw him driving around town?”

  “I’ve never seen Doug’s van,” I said.

  “You may not remember—”

  “We’re wasting time arguing,” I said. “I think Doug hurt her, Matt. I don’t know how badly.”

  “Do you hear yourself ?” Matt asked me. “You’ve just accused an innocent kid of assault and kidnapping.” Matt turned to Helen. “You can’t possibly believe this woman.”

  At that moment, I heard my mother’s voice. “And why the hell not?” I turned to find my mother marching toward us. “If I were you, I’d be hunting for that van right now,” she said to Matt.

  “Oh, here we go,” said Matt. He already thought Mom was loony. Her bright pink earmuffs and silver puffy jacket only added to that image. In her yellow snow boots, she looked like an overdressed duck.

  “Mom, what are you doing here?” I said.

  She waved a hand at Matt. “I’m here to make sure this fool listens to you.”

  “Your help is the last thing I need right now,” I said.

  Matt pointed a finger at me. “And I don’t want your help either,” he told me.

  “But I do,” said Helen. “Matt, please. You haven’t found Amber. I’m willing to try anything at this point. Maybe Claire can lead us to my daughter. Maybe not. But isn’t it at least worth a try?”

  “Let me tell you something, Helen,” Matt said. “Nearly every time someone goes missing, Claire’s mom phones us, claiming she knows where that person is. She’s got a ‘feeling.’” He made quotation marks in the air with his fingers.

  Mom poked him in the chest. “If you’d just listen once or twice, you would come to believe me,” she said.

  “I did listen to you at first,” said Matt. “You always ended up wasting our volunteers’ time. That’s precious time we could have used to track down those missing people.”

  “I told you exactly where that Evans kid was hiding last month.”

  “In the old Sterling mansion, I know,” said Matt. “Except we found him in the Johnsons’ barn.”

  “He was in that mansion when I told you he was there. He hid in the root cellar when he heard everyone looking for him. Then he left.”

  “I questioned him later,” said Matt. “He was never there.”

  “He was lying,” said Mom. “He broke into the Sterling mansion. He figured he’d catch shit if he told you that.”

  I raised my eyebrows at my mom, surprised that she had sworn. “Catch hell,” she corrected herself.

  Helen took a step closer to me. “Claire knew about the new charm I just gave Amber,” she said. “The little boat. How could she have known that? I just gave it to my daughter this week.”

  “I imagine Amber wore that bracelet to school,” said Matt.

  “Yes, I guess she did.”

  “Isn’t it possible Claire saw it then? She’s often up at the school taking pictures.”

  “I haven’t been up to the school this week,” I told him.

  “So you claim.”

  “I suppose Claire could have seen the bracelet and forgotten,” Helen said.

  Ah hell, I thought. Now Helen doubted my story too.

  “Matt, please,” I begged. “At least have the volunteers and cops search for that van. I’m sure Amber and Doug are still in the wilderness area. I saw blood on Amber’s head, and she was unconscious. She clearly needs medical care. We’ve got to find that van before it’s too late!”

  Helen covered her mouth and sobbed when she heard me say that. Matt wrapped an arm around her. “I want you two out of here—now,” he told Mom and me. “Don’t make me call the cops.”

  He turned his back on us and led Helen to the coffee tent.

  I was nearly in tears too. I thought I could help Matt find Amber, but he wouldn’t let me. He clearly thought I was nuts.

  Worse, I was starting to doubt myself. Maybe I was just seeing things. Maybe I was as loopy as my mother.

  “I’m so sorry,” Mom said. “I made matters worse, didn’t I? I should have kept my nose out of this.”

  “You were only trying to help.”

  “We should call the cops ourselves,” she said. “Make them hunt for Doug’s van.”

  “And when they ask why, what do I tell them? That I had visions? If Matt doesn’t believe me, the cops sure as hell won’t.”

  Mom shook her head. “You’re right. They’ve never believed me either.”

  We both stared into the bonfire for a time. The warmth and crackle of the fire relaxed me a little. I put my hands in my pocket to warm them and felt Amber’s necklace there. Almost immediately, I had another vision.

  I saw Amber lying in the back of the moving van. Beyond her, I could see the front windshield and the back of a man’s head. He turned to his right, and I saw his face. Yes, it was definitely Doug Conner.

  Beyond, I saw a rough logging road in the dusky light. They were still on that mountain. I was absolutely sure of it.

  “I just don’t know what else to suggest,” said Mom, and my vision ended. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “I do,” I said. I dangled Amber’s necklace in front of her. Then I nodded at the mountain above us. “We go up there and find Amber ourselves.”

  EIGHT

  I got Mom to drive my Honda Civic up the logging road. That way, I could hold Amber’s necklace and focus on my visions. It wasn’t the smartest decision I’d ever made. Mom was a nervous driver, especially on winter roads.

  She hunched over the steering wheel and peered out the windshield at the snowy road. The windshield wipers couldn’t keep up with the falling snow. She drove at a snail’s pace.

  “We’ll never find Amber if you keep driving this slow,” I told her.

  “Look at that drop-off !” Her voice rose in panic. In the twilight, I could see the bank went straight down. “I go any faster, and we’ll be in that gulley.”

  “Okay, okay,” I said. “Just keep driving.”

  Mom glanced over at Amber’s necklace in my hands. “Do you sense her? Are we going in the right direction?”

  “I think so,” I said. “She’s still lying in the back of that van. But my vision of her keeps dropping in and out.”

  “It’s all these damn trees and rocks,” Mom said. “They’re blocking your reception.”

  I laughed. “My reception? You’re joking, right?”

  “No,” she said. “My remote viewing works like a walkie-talkie. Even a concrete wall can make it impossible for me to make a connection with the person. Get too far away from Amber, and you won’t be able to see her at all.”

  I shook my head. This wa
s all too strange. Still, I was starting to have a new respect for my mother. She continued to try to help people even as everyone made fun of her.

  We drove farther up the mountain. Snow fell heavier now. A couple of inches of snow covered the dirt road, making it slippery. At one point, the Honda skidded to the side. Mom shrieked and yanked the wheel, just barely avoiding the drop-off.

  She slowed down even more after that. “I can’t drive in this,” she told me. “You’ve got to take over.”

  “Wait,” I said. “We’re getting close.” I could feel it. The hairs on my arms stood on end. I knew that van was just up ahead. We drove another couple of miles. “Pull over here,” I told her.

  Mom peered out the windshield at the snowy forest around us. “The van is here? I don’t see anything.”

  “I think Doug’s parked it around that bend. If we stop here, we can sneak up on him. We’ll walk.”

  “Then what?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never caught a kidnapper before.”

  “If he hurt Amber—” Mom didn’t finish, but I knew what she was thinking. If Doug had hurt Amber, he could hurt us just as easily.

  Mom wore snow boots. I was still in my high heels. She helped me up the snowy road. Within minutes, the skin on my legs went numb from the cold.

  “Are you sure this is where it is?” Mom whispered.

  “I’m sure.” As soon as I said that, I slipped in the snow. Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure anymore. What the hell was I doing here? I’d dragged Mom up this dangerous road even though I had no real proof that my visions were real. Was I just seeing things, as Matt thought?

  Then we rounded the bend, and there was the van! The back of the vehicle was open. Doug Conner sat on the rear bumper, holding his face in his hands. He wasn’t dressed for this weather either. He wore only jeans, a T-shirt and jean jacket.

  Behind Doug, Amber lay on the mattress on the floor of the van. I held my breath, willing her to breathe, but she didn’t move. I thought she was dead.

  “Doug,” I cried. “What have you done?”

  Doug jumped up and waved a shotgun in my direction. “Get back!” he shouted. “I’ll shoot.”