The Soul Summoner (The Soul Summoner Saga Book 1) (32 page)

"I keep trying to figure out if this is workman's comp related since I was kidnapped from work by an officer of the state and bludgeoned half to death," I said.

He laughed. "Well, I think, that at the very least, the county can afford you some time off."

I shook my head. "I'm already working on the press release in my head. I'll get someone else to type it."

The sheriff noticed Warren in the corner. "You must be the big hero."

"Sheriff Davis, this is my boyfriend, Warren," I said. 

They shook hands and Warren smiled. "I just happened to be at the right place at the right time."

The sheriff cocked his eyebrow. "That seems to be happening around you a lot these days." 

Warren shrugged. "McNamara is a friend of Sloan's, and he told me that the disappearances might be related. Because of my background in human tracking with the military, he asked for my help. Yesterday, we decided to scope out some similar places to where I found that girl last weekend. Everything else is all a really lucky coincidence."

"I'll say. It's a huge lucky coincidence," he said. "I'm sure we'll be talking with each other some more."

Warren nodded. "Whatever you need, sir."

The sheriff pointed at me. "You get to feeling better, Sloan." He turned to leave, but stopped in the doorway. "And please try and stay out of trouble."

When he had gone, Warren stretched out on the bed beside me. "How are you feeling?"

"Like an MMA champ," I said.

He shook his head and laughed. "I wouldn't say 'champ' exactly." He traced his fingers along my arm. "Seriously, how are you doing?"

I rolled my face toward him. "I'm going to have nightmares for a while. He was going to kill me. If you and Nathan hadn't been there, I would be lying next to Leslie Bryson's bones right now."

He rested his forehead against mine. "But we
were
there, and you're not buried in the woods. Thank God." He pressed his lips to my temple. 

I shuddered remembering the feeling of being dragged along that wooded path. "Thank God," I agreed. 

Across the room, a shimmer of light reflected off of my discarded clothes that were laying on the table near the door. Kayleigh's angel pin had somehow survived the ordeal in much better condition than the bedraggled blouse it was still attached to. A thought that I couldn't quite piece together rolled around in my brain. Perhaps it was the morphine.

"Warren, can I ask you a serious question?" 

He sat up a little and looked at me with concern. "Of course. What?"

"Do you think we will ever figure out what we are? Why we can do the things that we do?" I dropped my head back and stared at the fluorescent lights above.

He reclined back and rolled his head toward mine. "The answer is out there somewhere. Maybe someday we'll find it. I think we're off to a pretty good start."

I blew out a deep sigh. "Can I ask you something else?"

"Anything," he whispered and closed his eyes.

I cut my eyes at him. "Were you really singing 'That's What Friends are For?' with Nathan in the woods?" 

He burst out laughing and planted a kiss on my lips.

20.

TWO WEEKS LATER, I was sitting on Warren's lap with my heavily bandaged legs resting on the edge of Adrianne's hospital bed. We were sharing a tub of popcorn. Nathan was on the other side of the bed popping Skittles into his mouth. Adrianne was wearing a hat and sitting up as she slurped on some purple jello.

"Oh, this is it!" I squealed. I reached for the television remote on Adrianne's bed but winced with pain from my ribcage and drew my hand back. 

Warren shook his head. "Please let me do it." He picked up the remote and turned up the volume.

Shannon Green's face appeared on the television set. She was dressed in a bright yellow suit with freshly whitened teeth and enough hairspray to set the city ablaze. 

Adrianne scrunched up her nose. "What's going on with her hair?" 

"I was afraid she might get too close to the stage lighting and blow us all up." Nathan laughed gingerly, still with a bit of rasp to his voice.

Shannon smiled at the television screen and began her monologue. "Some are calling it the luckiest break in criminal history. Others are calling it nothing short of a miracle. I am Shannon Green with WKNC News coming to you from our studio with an exclusive interview with two people at the center of one of the most fascinating crime cases in our state's history. We are here with Detective Nathan McNamara and Buncombe County Public Information Officer, Sloan Jordan."

I leaned into Warren. "I love this part."

The camera panned to Nathan, who carefully shifted toward Shannon in his seat. He was wearing a suit. "Thank you for having us, Shannon. We are delighted to be here," he said and smiled at the camera.

We all laughed and Nathan launched a red Skittle at my head. "Shut up!"

"Oh, it gets better," I assured them.

Shannon folded her hands over her knee. "Twelve girls have gone missing in North Carolina and Georgia. Gone without a trace. One of the first of them was your sister, Nathan, and she disappeared over twelve years ago. How is it, that such an unlikely pair could solve a case that has had police and investigators across the nation puzzled for well over a decade?" she asked.

Nathan smiled at the camera again. "Well, Shannon, Miss Jordan and I met by chance on another case recently where she brought some very valuable insight and opinions to the..."

Warren squeezed my thigh. "My girl? Opinionated? No..."

I tried to clamp my hand over Warren's mouth. "Shhh…" 

"She is actually the one who found the link between the disappearances and the hunting season." Nathan smiled at the camera again.

"Why do you keep smiling like that?" Adrianne asked. "You look like a demented Ken doll."

We all laughed again.

Shannon forced a smile on screen. "You two must have been spending an awful lot of time together to be able to come up with such an elaborate conclusion." Her voice was squeaky and more high-pitched than normal.

The camera moved to me. "Over the course of just a few weeks, Detective McNamara and myself did spend almost every waking hour together."

Nathan shook his head. "You're just mean, Sloan."

I smiled at Warren and then looked back at the television.

"We did a lot of traveling and interviewing people. We employed the help of a friend who was able to track and locate the bodies that were found in Raleigh and ultimately the one that was found here in Asheville. That discovery also led to the demise of the killer himself," I explained.

Shannon leaned forward in her chair toward me on screen. "I believe the question of the century is, how is it that you came by the information that led to the discovery of the first two bodies in Raleigh? What caused you to look in the exact spot where the bodies had been overlooked for so many years?" 

On screen I turned and smiled at Nathan (who then turned and smiled at the camera) before I continued. "We did a very thorough process of elimination of different areas, and I guess there was a bit of a woman's intuition at play, Shannon."

Warren shifted to look at me. "A 'woman's intuition'? Did you really just say that?"

I laughed. "I couldn't exactly say that my boyfriend is somewhat of a cadaver dog, now could I?" 

"And what about this mystery hero that located three of the girls without any aid from standard search equipment?" Shannon asked me.

I smiled. "Well, he has wished to remain anonymous, but I can tell you that he is a bit of a bad(BLEEP) who has had the best tracking training and experience in the world."

Adrianne reached over and nudged my arm. "Check you out, Sloan! You just got bleeped out on television!"

I laughed and squeezed her hand.

"Sloan, this was a particularly terrifying ordeal for you as you were almost the next victim. Is it true that you were kidnapped and tortured before the assailant was apprehended?" She was smiling a little bit too much for the words she was saying.

"Would you say we actually 'apprehended' him?" Warren asked.

I giggled. "Shh… I'm on TV!"

"I was actually taken from the sheriff's office building by someone I believed I knew fairly well. I trusted him and it almost got me killed. I think it should be a good reminder that we can never be too careful, ladies," I said directly into the camera.

Nathan was shaking his head on the other side of the hospital bed. "Just like a publicist to squeeze in a good public service announcement."

"Hey! I could be saving lives!"

He laughed and dumped the rest of the bag of Skittles into his mouth. 

"After being held for over six hours, I was taken into the woods where Detective McNamara and our other companion had already discovered the remains of Leslie Bryson. They were still on the scene, and they were able to stop Game Warden William Stewart and save my life," I said.

"And Detective, this is when you were shot during the struggle?" Shannon asked.

Nathan smiled at the camera. 

We all laughed.

"Yes. I was shot in the back while I was attempting to shield Ms. Jordan from gunfire," he said.

Adrianne pointed to the television. "Look at her face!"

Shannon's mouth was smiling, but her eyes could have been burning holes in Nathan's skull. I was a little surprised his head wasn't smoking. 

I held up my hand in suspense. "Oh, wait for it." 

Shannon leaned forward in her seat toward Nathan. "Does it hurt, Detective? Does it hurt very badly?"

We all howled in laughter at the television. 

"Does it hurt very badly?" Warren mimicked.

Nathan shook his head. "You guys suck."

"It could have been a lot worse. Thank you for asking," he said.

"So, Sloan. What are your plans for the future now? Do you plan on getting involved with any more crime solving mysteries?" she asked me.

I laughed. "No, Shannon. I think I'm going to try and stick with writing the news instead of living it."

"Fantastic. Well, we are thankful that this nightmare is over for everyone, and we appreciate you both taking the time to talk with us here. I am Shannon Green with WKNC, Six O'clock News."

I held up my hands. "Wait, wait!"

The camera panned back to Nathan. "Stay safe, Asheville," he said with a smile—and a wink—into the camera.

The room erupted into hysterics again. 

"'Stay safe, Asheville'? What the hell is that about?" Warren laughed.

"Personally, I like the wink," Adrianne said, doing her best to wink at him.

Nathan got up, flinching slightly with pain and slammed his candy wrapper in the trash. "I hate you all."

"I think you've missed your calling in show business, man," Warren teased.

"Hey, Warren, I hear American Idol is doing auditions soon!" Nathan fired back.

I laughed and kissed Warren on the forehead.

When the laughter died down, Adrianne adjusted the incline of her bed. "Do you guys think anyone bought that bullshit?"

Nathan sat back down and shook his head. "Not a chance."

"I've already had a call from the CIA and the Pentagon," Warren grumbled.

I kissed Warren again, this time on the lips. "We can always run to Mexico."

"I think that's a wonderful idea." He kissed me again.

Nathan groaned. "I'm getting out of here before I start puking like Sloan with a migraine."

I laughed and stood up carefully. I grabbed Warren's hand for support as the blood rushed back down to my throbbing legs. "Come on, guys. Let's get out of here," I said.

We paused at Adrianne's bedside to say our goodbyes for the night. She reached for my hand. "So, have you two decided if you are going to use your powers for good or evil?" she asked.

I smiled down at her. "I still plan on using them for evil when I get my hands on Mark Higgins."

She laughed.

I slowly leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, friend. I'll be back tomorrow."

She squeezed my hand. "I love you, too."

I turned toward Warren and Nathan. "You boys ready to go?"

"Yep. Lead the way. Bye, Adrianne," Warren said.

Nathan waved. "See you later, girl."

She smiled.

Warren draped his arm over my shoulders as they walked—and I limped—down the hallway.

Nathan looked at Warren when we got on the elevator. "So, the Pentagon? Really?" 

Warren nodded and pressed the button for the first floor. "Yeah," he said. "Apparently they want to fly me up to Washington sometime, maybe next week. They didn't tell me much more about it."

I looked up at him. "Do I get to come?" 

He tensed and gave a doubtful smile. "I don't think it's a 'bring a friend' deal."

I gave him a sheepish smile. "But I'm a celebrity now."

Nathan smirked looking up to watch the floors countdown. "Yes, I'm sure Hollywood will be calling for the movie rights any day now."

The door to the elevator opened. 

Mark Higgins was holding a bouquet of bright yellow daisies.

With one punch, I knocked two shiny, veneered front teeth to the floor.

THANK YOU FOR READING!