Forty-Four Box Set, Books 1-10 (44) (29 page)

I was relieved. I was getting worried because if he wasn’t going to do it, we didn’t seem to have a Plan B.

“Can we come and watch?” I asked.

I had a soccer game, but I would skip it.

“Probably not,” Kate said. “It would be better if we weren’t around. If the police ever ask him what he was doing out there, he’s going to tell them he was just trying out his new camera gear. But if we’re there and they hear about it, it will complicate things.”

That made sense.

“Okay,” I said.

I couldn’t wait to hear the news. I figured when I saw Kate after soccer, she’d probably know if Daniel had found anything in the river.

That night, our undefeated record went up in flames as we lost 4-1.

“Damn it,” Jack said on the sidelines after the game. “All right, what say we start a new winning streak next game? On the plus side, we still have the best record in the league.”

He was doing his best to put a spin on it, but I could tell he was taking it hard.

When I walked inside the house later, Kate was at the table, smiling.

“He got something, Abby,” she said. “You were right. There’s a body down there. Right where you rafters take out.”

I took a breath. It was all real.

CHAPTER 34

When Kate got home Friday, she showed me copies of the pictures Daniel had taken and given to the police that morning.

I was nervous about looking at them, but she assured me it was okay.

“She’s wrapped up,” Kate said. “Like in plastic or something. But look, it’s the same shape and size of a body.”

I looked through the photos.

“Daniel says it’s lodged in pretty good down there between some rocks, but he’s confident that they’ll be able to get her out. At least she’s not under the rapids.”

I nodded.

We headed to the shooting range for some more practice. As we drove through the desert, we didn’t say much.

There was a wait this time to get a spot, but it was worth it. Our aim was improving and that made Kate happy. She nailed the target, all her shots hitting either the chest or head. I had one good shot.

“Nice,” she said, pulling the target off the clip.

It had gone through the head.

“That’s what we’re talking about!”

When we got home I wrote Claire, telling her everything, and asking about Jesse. I told her I really just wanted to know, and told her to tell me the truth. I was starting to doubt that I had really seen him for all those months after my accident. I asked her if she thought I had made him up.

She answered back late Sunday night.

Abby,

That’s wonderful news about Annabelle. You are very close.

I know with me, it took a while before I got better at seeing and hearing the spirits. I think it will be that way with you, too. You will hear the ghosts soon.

And don’t give up on Jesse. I sense that he’s close by. Of course, I could be wrong.

Claire

I was planning to be done with ghosts after we helped Annabelle, and her family knew the truth. But Claire’s message made me think that I was just beginning with all this.

I hoped what she was saying about Jesse was true. But I doubted it more and more as time passed.

I wondered if Jesse had even been a ghost at all.

CHAPTER 35

“That’s great,” Kate said, talking on the phone and pacing back and forth in front of the TV, blocking my view.

She was on the phone with the photographer.

“Thanks for calling, Daniel. And thanks again for all your help. I owe you big time.”

I put down my bowl of cereal on the coffee table.

“The sheriff’s department is sending a search and rescue team out tomorrow morning. They looked at the photos and agreed that something is down there.”

“That’s awesome,” I said.

I got up and gave her a high five.

“Daniel said that they’re very interested. Of course, they think it’s one of those other people missing here in Bend the last few years. But it doesn’t matter. As long as they get her out of the river.”

“That was sure great that your friend helped out like that,” I said.

“They’ll close the river for the search,” she said. “At least for the morning.”

She grabbed her phone and called someone as she picked up her purse and headed out the door. I said goodbye, but I didn’t know if she heard me.

I finished getting ready and went to work. When I got to the office, Amber and Ty were there.

“Hi,” she said. “We were talking about the news we just heard. They’re closing off the river tomorrow.”

“Really?” I said, pretending to be surprised.

“Yeah,” Ty said.

“I’m hoping it won’t be for the entire day,” she said. “I really need the money.”

“I hear that,” he said.

“Did they say why?” I asked.

“Nope,” Amber said. “But it’s got to be something big.”

“They must be looking for a body,” Ty said. “They did that once in Montana. Found a guy in the Flathead who had fallen in two years before. He was lodged in among some submerged trees, but they were able to finally pull him out. What was left of him anyway.”

“Eew,” Amber said. “Good story, Ty.”

We got our gear and headed out to the van.

The current was swift and stronger on the first few runs, reminding me of the last time I saw Annabelle on the river. But I was ready this time and did a good job steering us through the whitewater. We stayed facing forward.

When we got back to the office at the end of the day, the manager reminded us that there would be no work in the morning. They would be calling us with an update sometime before noon.

CHAPTER 36

When I got home, I was surprised to see Dr. Mortimer’s car out front parked next to Kate’s. It made me happy, until I realized that something must have happened.

I opened the door cautiously.

“Hey,” I said.

They were both sitting at the dining room table. He stood up and smiled.

“Abby,” he said. “We’ve been waiting for you. Good news.”

I looked over at Kate. She was smiling too. I felt strange, like I had interrupted something.

“Hey,” she said.

“Something about Annabelle?” I asked.

“Annabelle?” Dr. Mortimer said.

“Go ahead and tell her, Ben,” she said.

He looked at me, his eyes dancing with excitement.

“It’s Nathaniel. We got him. We know exactly where he is.”

“Oh, my God, really?” I said, smiling ear to ear.

We sat at the table and Dr. Mortimer told me the agency had found Nathaniel working in a Kenyan refugee camp.

“Look, I even have some pictures they faxed over. These were taken just a few days ago.”

“I’ve seen it already, Abby. It’s him, if you don’t want to look.”

“No, I want to,” I said.

Dr. Mortimer handed me the photos.

“I was so excited. I rushed here right away. I wanted you two to know.”

I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. I looked through the photos and then at Kate.

“Wow,” I said, taking another breath. “It really is him.”

It was hard to believe, but there he was. Nathaniel Mortimer looked the same as the last time I’d seen him when we confronted him about the murders in Bend. His long, black hair was still carefully slicked back in a neat ponytail. In the first two pictures he wore a doctor’s coat and appeared to be treating patients. In the last one, he was standing in front of a tent, staring out.

That was the one that shot chills down the back of my neck. That look. It was the same exact look he had when we spoke in Dr. Mortimer’s house. In the picture, he looked like a killer. Arrogant and aloof.

“I still don’t understand what he’s doing there,” Kate said. “It just isn’t like him.”

“I don’t either,” Dr. Mortimer said. “But I’ll find out.”

I didn’t really care. It felt good to know with certainty that he was far away. I hoped that it brought a little peace of mind to Kate too.

“So now what?” I asked.

“Now we work on building a case,” he said. “The agency investigators already have all the files of the four murders here in Bend. They’re going over everything.”

He sat back in the chair, waiting for a reaction from Kate.

“I never did think the police department here tried very hard,” she said. “I think those files must have something in them. Something that they overlooked.”

“I know it’s just the beginning, but I’m seeing this through to the end. Until Nathaniel has been brought to justice.”

“That’s great news,” I said, handing back the papers.

Kate stood up.

“Thank you, Ben,” she said. “Really. It means a lot.”

“Hopefully it will mean more as we progress. But if anything, I hope that both you and Abby can rest a little easier,” he said.

We said goodbye.

Dr. Mortimer had done well.

CHAPTER 37

After Dr. Mortimer left, it took a while for us to stop talking about Nathaniel. Kate was happy that he had been found. But I wondered if that would be enough for her, if she would be able to forgive Dr. Mortimer so they could get back together.

I told her what the rafting company had told us, that the river would be closed in the morning.

“I doubt it will be just for the morning,” she said. “That entire area will be a crime scene.”

She got up and put on her shoes.

“I’ve got to go back in for a little while,” she said. “I spent most of my day arguing with Colin and didn’t get much else done. But I won’t be late.”

“Okay. Have a good night,” I said.

I checked my email. There was only one message in the inbox, from Jack reminding the team that tomorrow night’s game was going to be tough and that we should meet half an hour early for extra practice.

As I watched a taped Barcelona soccer game, my thoughts drifted to Nathaniel. It was strange how things had turned out. I was sure he must be still working on his experiments. And even though I was relieved to know where he was, I still couldn’t figure out why I didn’t have any more visions of him murdering people.

More things I didn’t understand. It seemed lately that I had a lot of those.

It took a long time before I finally fell asleep.

And then it wasn’t for long.

CHAPTER 38

It was the noise that woke me.

I thought it was coming from outside and jumped up, stumbling out of bed over to the window. I looked out but saw nothing. Just trees blowing and moonbeams and dancing shadows. Maybe it had been a cat, or a car passing by. I looked over at the clock. It was almost two in the morning.

And then I saw her, rising up out of the floor.

My heart pounded in terror as she stood in the corner of my bedroom. She still had that deathly serious expression and the pale, scarred face. And those intense eyes.

She stood there, somber. I started shaking uncontrollably, backing up against the far wall. What did she want from me? I was doing everything I could. The divers were going out in the morning and her body would be found. There was nothing else for me to do.

I wanted to say those things to her, but the words wouldn’t come out. I could feel my eyes watering up, my breath growing shallow. I just wanted her to leave me alone.

And then she suddenly disappeared. I fell backwards into the wall and slid down to the floor, trying to breathe.

CHAPTER 39

I drove out to the river early the next morning. The road to the take-out was closed, so I went up to the next parking area. There was a trail along the river and I only had to walk about a mile or so before I saw a small crowd down below.

I climbed up the hillside a little so I was off the path, just in case anybody was patrolling. Then I called Kate.

“So you have a good view up there?” she asked.

She had gotten access and was down there right next to the river.

“Yeah, I can see everything.”

“The divers are suiting up. They’ll be going in soon.”

“Good,” I said.

“I’ll call back in a bit,” she said.

About half an hour later, I watched as two divers in wet suits headed out into the water. They climbed into a small raft with one other person, and rowed to the middle of the river. Then they went in.

I sat down in a pile of dead pine needles and thought about Annabelle. I knew they would find her. I hoped it would bring her some peace. I hoped that she could move on.

In about 10 minutes, they came back up. Kate called a short time later.

“They found the body,” she said. “But like Daniel said, it’s hard to get to. It’ll probably take a while. You might as well go home. I’ll call you with updates.”

“I think I’ll stick around,” I said.

I wanted to stay. And be here for
her
. Kate was quiet for a moment.

“Sometimes it’s just hard to believe all of this is real,” she said.

“I know what you mean.”

The divers swam on the surface, circling for a while, and then dove under the water with ropes. The raft hovered on the water above them. About half an hour later, the guy in the boat turned on a kind of winch.

And then she came up.

Kate called and told me they had her, in case I couldn’t see. And that she was still wrapped up, just like Daniel’s pictures had shown.

I watched as they brought her over to the shore and laid her up on the bank.

After eight years, Annabelle Harrison was finally out of the water.

CHAPTER 40

Kate was right. They ended up closing the river for the entire day and we were told not to come in to work. Ty called me right after I found out and asked if I wanted to go on the hike up to Green Lakes.