Forty-Four Box Set, Books 1-10 (44) (24 page)

I was really happy that he had come out to the game. He belonged in our family. It was just that nobody knew where he fit in anymore.

I tossed down my water bottle and looked out at the field. Most of the team was already out there warming up. The ref walked over and began talking to the captains.

“Thought I would just give you a heads up,” I said. I figured I might as well warn him too. “Kate sometimes comes out to my games when she can.”

“Oh, that would be great,” Dr. Mortimer said.

“Well, yeah, but Colin usually tags along.”

“Okay.” It didn’t seem to bother him at all. “I would still love to see her.”

I ran out on the field.

“Hey, AC,” Jack said. “Ready for the game?”

“Oh, yeah. Thought about it all day,” I said.

“So, who’s that in your cheering section now?” he asked, looking at Dr. Mortimer.

I told him it was a family friend and he passed me the ball and I kicked it over to Bree.

We were in first place and had won all our games, but tonight we were facing a tough team. The ref blew the whistle and we kicked off. Within the first two minutes, we were down a goal.

“It’s early, no worries,” Bree said as we walked back to the middle of the field.

Right before the half, I was taken down by a jittery little guy with a thin mustache who had a reputation for slide tackling. He was fast and had caught up to me easily. Not exactly something I wanted Dr. Mortimer to see, but it was just part of the game. Especially out here. The ref gave him a yellow card and I took the free kick, passing it over to Jack. He took it in and scored a sweet goal to tie the game.

At halftime I was relieved to see that Dr. Mortimer was still standing by himself. Kate must have gotten my messages.

“Fantastic,” Dr. Mortimer said, beaming.

I wasn’t really fantastic, nothing like I used to be, but that was okay. It felt great just being able to play again.

In the second half, I had a chance to win it in the final minute, but their goalie stoned me. The game ended 1-1.

“Well, we’re still in first place,” Jack sighed, collecting his stuff and jamming it in his bag.

He was probably the most competitive person I had ever met and I imagined he hated tying as much as he hated losing.

“See you guys next week,” he mumbled, walking away.

As I said goodbye to the rest of the team, I saw Kate pulling into the parking lot. She got out of the car and walked toward us. She was alone.

“Hey, Ben,” she said, smiling.

“Hey, Kate. You just missed a great game. It was incredible watching Abby play.”

“You always did say that she would play soccer again,” she said. “You called it, even when she was having trouble just walking.”

“She needed time to heal and healing is always on its own schedule. It’s easy to get impatient.”

He looked at me when he said that. It was true. I had been real impatient.

“She’s really come a long way, hasn’t she?” Kate said.

“She has,” he said.

It felt like old times, the two of them talking about me. We stood under the bright stadium lights as the field emptied out. Ours was the last game of the night and almost everyone was gone or in the parking lot.

“I’m glad you came, Kate. I have some news.”

“What’s up?” she said.

“The agency says that Nathaniel’s working in a refugee camp in Kenya. Now it’s just a matter of physically finding him there.”

She didn’t say anything.

“That’s good,” I said.

“I still don’t know what he would be doing there,” Kate said. “But Abby’s right. It’s good to know where he is. So what’s the next step?”

“I’ve asked the agency to start investigating the murders here in Bend. When they find something, we’ll try and get those cases reopened and go from there.”

Kate smiled finally, those bright waves moving around her.

The lights above us suddenly turned off.

“Let’s get over to the parking lot,” she said. “I have a favor to ask, Ben. That’s why I came tonight.”

“Sure,” Dr. Mortimer said.

I looked up at the sliver of moon hanging low above the horizon and the stars peppering the black desert sky. It was a good feeling, hearing that they were close to finding Nathaniel. But I was also glad that he was so far away.

CHAPTER 21

Kate’s favor seemed to make Dr. Mortimer happy. But it was still wrong the way she did it. It made me feel like a four-year-old.

“Could you come over to the house for a few days and stay with Abby?” she asked.

I was putting my bag into the backseat and hoped that I heard wrong. I slammed the trunk and joined them again.

“I have to go to Portland next week and don’t want her staying alone.”

“Of course,” Dr. Mortimer said. “Just email me the dates. It would be my pleasure.”

“Hey,” I said. “Come on. I’m not a kid. I can stay by myself.”

She looked over at me, her eyebrows high on her head. She seemed to realize what she had done.

“Oh, Abby. I’m sorry. I should have talked with you about it first. I didn’t mean for it to sound like that. I would just feel better if someone were at the house while I was gone. That you weren’t by yourself.”

I rolled my eyes at her.

“Thanks for coming out to the game, Dr. Mortimer,” I said.

I got in the Jeep and drove home.

I was furious. Kate was out of line. There was no need to embarrass me like that in front of Dr. Mortimer and there was no need to bring in a babysitter for her 19-year-old sister. I tried to calm down as drove, but my anger just kept building. I threw myself, sweat and all, on the sofa and waited for her to get home.

Ten minutes later I heard the key in the door.

“Come on. I said I was sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I wasn’t thinking. It’s just that I need to go to Portland and I don’t want to leave you here by yourself and I knew you couldn’t come with me because of your job. Come on. I’m sorry. Forgive me.”

“I’m taking a shower,” I said, getting up and walking away.

The water cooled off my anger somewhat. When I returned, Kate was watching TV.

“All right. I forgive you,” I said, sitting down next to her.

She smiled and held out her hand and I shook it.

“Thanks, Abby. I wouldn’t have liked that either. Sorry, again.”

“But I don’t need anybody coming over to the house and watching me. Seriously. That’s just dumb.”

“He’s not watching you. I just didn’t want anyone to notice you were here by yourself. I won’t be able to go if I’m all freaked out about it. Could you just do it for me?”

“All right,” I said after a long pause. “What’s in Portland anyway?”

“The newspaper is sending me there to check on the background of a guy who was arrested last week for identity theft who used to live in Portland. He was using another name and had been serving as one of the county commissioners. Anyway, I figured I might as well look into the missing person files while I’m there.”

“Oh, that would be good,” I said.

“It works out too because there’s a lot of them, so I wouldn’t be able to get them all faxed over here anyway. It’s just easier to be there and go through the files myself. Maybe I can get Erin to help me.”

Erin was Kate’s best friend. She used to work as a reporter at
The
Bugler
, but last year she got a job in Portland at
The
Oregonian
.

“That sounds good,” I said.

“I’m going to go through what they have and send you the ones matching the description. If we’re lucky and you see her, maybe I can stay on in Portland and do some more investigating.”

It started feeling real, like the ghost was connected to a person and a story.

“Sorry about getting so mad earlier,” I said. “I hope I didn’t hurt Dr. Mortimer’s feelings.”

“Are you kidding? He’s super happy about coming over to help. You won’t even see much of him with his schedule. It’s just another car in the driveway and someone in and out of the house. That’s all, Abby.”

“Yeah, okay,” I said. “But that was great news, too. About
him
, I mean. That they found him after all this time.”

Kate nodded but didn’t say anything for a few minutes. The glow from the television illuminated her face and I noticed she looked worried.

“Yes, it is. I’ll feel better when he’s actually apprehended and facing charges and this whole nightmare is behind us.”

“It’s a step,” I said. “And Dr. Mortimer is really trying.”

Kate sighed.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling I’ve been having lately,” she said. “I can’t tell if it’s real or not.”

She turned and looked at me, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them.

“But you know how it is when things are going really well and then you wonder when the other shoe will drop? That’s exactly how I feel. Nervous, or something. We have it good now, Abby. So I guess it’s natural for me to think that something bad is going to happen.”

“That’s not true,” I said. “Besides, haven’t we paid our dues for a while? That’s what you’re always saying.”

“I know, you’re right. It’s probably just nerves,” she said.

“And it won’t be so bad having Dr. Mortimer here.”

“I figured it was better than asking Colin to stay over,” she said, smiling.

“That’s true. I’m not sure I would have survived that.”

“Oh, he’s not that bad.”

“No, he’s not,” I said. “But some of those documentaries you guys watch are kinda lethal. You might have come home and found me dead. Cause of death: an overdose of Ken Burns.”

CHAPTER 22

It was cloudy on the river the next day and it started raining by midmorning, but it didn’t seem to affect business. Our rafts were full on every run. The guides were in good moods and so were the tourists. I got a lot of good tips. At the end of the afternoon, the clouds broke apart and the sun came out. It turned out to be a beautiful day.

Although I looked on the river and up on the cliffs every time we pulled into the take-out, I didn’t see her. I hoped she knew that I was trying to help. Sometimes, when I was standing alone on the bank and the customers had left, I would whisper in the wind that I was close to finding her. I hoped my words would cross between our worlds and offer some comfort.

Ty seemed especially happy all day and as we got on the bus, he sat next to me with a grin on his face.

“So where are we going?” he asked.

My stomach tightened a little but I smiled anyway.

“First dinner at a place I know you’ll love. And then afterwards, we’ll climb up to the top of Pilot Butte, if you’re up for it.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” he said.

We signed out in the office and joked around with a few of the guides for a while before saying goodbye. I thought that maybe Ty would invite them along. Or actually, I wished he would. But he didn’t.

“Okay, I’m ready,” he said.

“Me too.”

I drove us over to the Deschutes Brewery Pub. It was an easy choice since he loved their beer so much. We walked in and were seated by the window. It was still pretty early so it wasn’t that crowded.

“Man, I love this place!” he said, looking around.

“You probably come here every night, but I couldn’t think of a better spot,” I said, fiddling with a paper napkin.

“You bet I do. I told them if my ski job doesn’t work out that I’ll apply here for a job, even if it’s washing dishes.”

“That would be perfect,” I said. “I hear they pay in beer too.”

He laughed. He looked good sitting in the restaurant, off the river, even with his hair matted down from wearing a hat all day. I liked being able to actually see his eyes. They were a light color, probably the lightest I’d ever seen.

We sat in an awkward silence for a minute. I was trying to think of something to say and he was unusually quiet.

“So, you like it in Bend?” I asked. “I mean, compared to Montana?”

He nodded quickly.

“Yeah, I really do. It’s great. I miss my family, but I love living here. There’s so much to do and the people are awesome too. Like you, Abby.”

He looked at me as I smiled nervously. Now I felt super uncomfortable. I started laughing.

“Seriously, I mean it,” he said. “You guys here are all so friendly.”

I wouldn’t completely agree with that, but I liked that Ty thought so.

“Do you have a big family?” I said.

“Yeah, it’s pretty big. Four brothers and lots of uncles and aunts and about a million cousins. How about you? Do you have a big family?”

I shook my head.

“Well, there’s my sister. And that’s about it.”

“Oh, wow.”

“But we have a lot of friends.”

It was really Kate who had lots of friends. I was working on it, but I didn’t want to sound pathetic.

“You guys are lucky to have each other. And also to be living in such beauty.”

He was right. Bend was really nice. With the rivers and mountains and fresh air and hot summers and snowy winters, I couldn’t think of a better place to live. Most of the time, I really loved it here.

But there had been times when I felt differently. After my accident, I hated it. During my recovery there were a lot of nights I stayed awake thinking about leaving, about going to a place where nobody had ever heard about me.

I hadn’t felt like that lately, though. And that was a good thing. It was starting to feel like I belonged here again.

We ordered and talked about the different groups of the day and how Amber had gotten stuck up against a rock on our second run for a few minutes.

“She’s hooked herself on that same boulder three times so far,” he said. “I don’t get what she’s doing. She’s missing the channel. I’ll have to run it with her once when we’re by ourselves and see where she’s going wrong.”

“At least it’s not the big rock in the middle of the river.”

“Yeah, getting stuck on that one would flip you,” he said. “Flip you for real.”

I asked him if he had ever tipped a raft or had someone fall out in the water.