Touched by Death (20 page)

The anxiety level coming through the phone made Jade's
stomach knot and her throat catch. "Not since lunchtime. I worked
in the office all afternoon. I don't think he'd returned by the time
I left."

"Right. He's not answering his phone. He's got
one of the SUVs and we don't know where he is."

She swallowed and stared at Dane. Dr. Mike wasn't
old but anything could have happened. "Could he have gone out for
dinner or into town for a little fun after a tough week? It is Friday
night."

"Maybe." Bruce's doubtful voice didn't put
any credence to her theory though. "He should be back if he went
for dinner."

"What time is it?"

"Almost midnight."

Dane pointed at his lit watch display to confirm the
time. "Wow. I had no idea it was so late. What do you want me to
do?"

"I don't know. I can hardly raise an alarm just
because he didn't come back from the job site and isn't answering his
phone. So I guess we wait." He sighed heavily. "But I don't
like it."

"We're in the truck, almost at the hotel,"
she lied, rolling her eyes at the wicked grin that flashed on Dane's
face. "We can take a run past the site if you'd like us to check
for him there. Just to make sure he's not still working. You know how
he felt about processing those remains."

Bruce's voice brightened. "Hey, I never thought
about that. Maybe that's what he's doing. But he should have answered
his phone then."

"Not if his battery is dead. Besides, I don't
think Dane will mind driving out there with me." She glanced over
at Dane, who nodded in agreement. "Dr. Mike may also have stopped
in at the authorities to talk to someone…and that could take hours."

"You're right." Bruce paused. "He could
be anywhere. I'm just paranoid."

"Better than uncaring. We'll take a drive to
the lab to be sure."

She closed the phone and handed it to Dane. "Sorry,
I guess I should consider picking up a cell phone of my own while here."

He started the engine. "I gather Dr. Mike is
missing?"

"I don't know that he's missing, but no one's
seen him in hours and he's not answering his phone."

Dane pulled the truck to the main road. "I know
it's none of my business, however, what's with the going-to-the-authorities
business?"

"Dr. Mike found something – well, we all did
actually – that raised a few questions." She smiled apologetically.
"I'm not at liberty to say what. But Bruce stopped and spoke with
the police yesterday. Said they weren't too bothered." She frowned.
"They told him if we came across definite proof then we could come
back and talk to them again."

Dane raised an eyebrow at her before turning his attention
to maneuver through the surprising amount of traffic for a Friday night.
He pulled out onto the main road. "Hmmm. Drop a bomb like that,
then don't fill in the details. Okay. I don't like it but I can understand
you not being able to speak freely." He thought for a moment. "I
don't know how effective the police are here at this time. They are
dealing with high-priority issues that affect their people
now
. If whatever you found is associated with the grave from
a year ago...I don't think it's going to be a priority."

"True enough." She shrugged. "It's
easy to judge. From their perspective, we waltzed in here with fancy
degrees and equipment and tore open a grave that everyone had been happy
enough to leave alone. Now we want to make waves because of a few of
the bodies."

"A few. So not an isolated case?" Dane frowned.
"That's not great."

"Nope." The sky had taken on a dark on darker
splotching look. Stars had all but disappeared behind clouds. She pointed
it out. "I hate to say anything superstitious but now the sky's
almost angry looking."

He laughed. "Wait until you've been here a bit
longer. I've never known such a people for their rituals and beliefs.
Tasha helps her cousins make and sell these little eerie dolls and totems
to the tourists. The house is full of them in various stages. I honestly
don't know why anyone would pay good money for them."

Jade shuddered and told him what Magrim had said to
her that day she'd gone shopping. "What freaked me out the most
was the weird look her eyes when delivering the message."

"Did you believe her?" Dane raised an eyebrow
as he studied her face.

Shifting uncomfortably, Jade wished she hadn't brought
it up. "I didn't
not
believe her. Her message was just so weird." Jade
quoted, "Danger stalks you. You see it but you don't understand
it. Careful. Or you will join those that have gone before." She
shuddered. "If I'd gone to a séance or something else as ridiculous,
then I'd have tossed it off as a marketing ploy. However, the hotel
manager says Magrim is for real and I'd better watch my back."

She shivered in the slightly cooled air. Magrim, murder
victims and now Dr. Mike. Not an uplifting series of events.

"Well I wouldn't let her worry you. Just be careful.
If there is anything suspicious going on at the gravesite then you don't
want the news to get out. Things are still pretty primitive here; the
laws, minimal. People disappear all the time."

Horrified, she stared at him. Swallowing hard, she
asked, "Like Dr. Mike?"

Dane drove fast in the building darkness. He had bright
headlights and great night vision and he pushed the truck to eat through
the miles. Though she was quiet, he could tell Jade was beyond freaked
out. He should not have said anything about disappearances. Still, if
something had gone wrong, there was no point in sugarcoating it. Bruce
hadn't brought in the necessary security and there could already be
one casualty.

He hoped he was wrong.

"Do you have to drive this fast?" The timid
voice penetrated his thoughts.

"Sorry." He eased back on the gas. "I'm
used to it and I know the roads."

"I thought you might have been angry at something,"
she said in a small voice.

Startled, he looked over at her. "In a way I
am. But not at you. I texted my brother to see if they'd found his father-in-law
earlier and your conversation about Dr. Mike reminded of that conversation."

"What? Is he missing, too?"

He kept his gaze focused on the road ahead as he answered
slowly, hesitantly. "Not really. He's walked away from home again,
something he's done many times over the last few years. It's more worrisome
now as he's not himself mentally anymore. I spent time looking for him
earlier before I picked you up. Now the family doesn't want me involved.
They don't like what I was saying."

"Saying?"

He felt the intensity of her gaze rather than saw
it. "Yeah. You know, like call in a search party, notify the authorities.
Basics." Dane turned to watch the shock develop on her face. She
was so open and expressive, she'd make a lousy poker player.

"And they didn't want to get help to find him?
Why not?" she said, incredulously.

"Beats me. I expected more from John. That's
what I meant earlier. He's changed – and not in a good way. Or, if
he's been this way for years, and I haven't seen it because we've not
had much to do with each other over the last decade."

"Do you think he's influenced by his new family?"

"I suspect so. Tasha was muttering something
at the kitchen table when I left. Looked like she was creating more
of those damn dolls."

"Yuck." Jade explained what she'd learned
about vodou from Susan. "The ones I've seen were beyond freaky."

"The ones she was working on today were just
papier-mâché from the looks of it." He turned his attention back
to navigating through the potholes on the road. "I didn't ask.
I remember once when I first arrived, I made a comment that she didn't
like. Not sure if she took exception to what I said or the way I said
it. It was the first time I'd seen the temperamental side of her…"

"And you've seen plenty since?"

"Yeah, you could say that. John says the pregnancy
isn't easy on her."

"Oh."

A weird silence filled the cab. Uh oh. He glanced
sideways at her. "What did I say?"

"Nothing."

Now that was a lie. He didn't need to see her face
to know something was wrong. "Yes, I did. You're different. As
if I said something offensive."

She avoided his gaze, staring out into the dark of
night instead. "It's not you. It's me. I lost a baby a year ago
and sometimes I'm a little sensitive."

His sighed. "I am sorry. I didn't know."

"How could you? I didn't tell you."

Her voice was lighter but still there was something
she wasn't saying. "Was that related to the bad breakup?"

"Yeah. I can't say the breakup caused the miscarriage
as I was pretty broken up over everything going on in my life at that
time – but my ex came back while I was in the hospital to let me know
he wasn't upset about the loss, as my mental state was questionable.
And maybe I should seek help."

"Bastard." Soft and deadly, his voice hardened
with fury. "There is no excuse for that kind of stuff. Why are
people such assholes, anyway?"

Her voice when she answered, was soft, contemplative.
"I'd like to think he was hurting from the loss of our child."

"Losing the baby would have been rough, but it
wasn't your fault."

"Maybe it was." She shifted uncomfortably
on the seat. "I hadn't been home from Haiti for very long and I
wasn't handling that experience well. It had been a terrible trip. I
felt so guilty because I had a comfortable home and the poor people
here had no place to go." She leaned back and stared out the window.

He had to lean closer to hear her next words.

"Worse, I wanted to stay home."

"Which is understandable." At the lack of
a response, he added, "And you've stayed home since?"

She laughed. "Yeah. Until my brother forced me
to face my fears and, you know what? I found out that it's much easier
to let go than I thought."

He couldn't get his mind wrapped around what she'd
been through already. But as long as she was handling it and moving
on then he was good. Emotional women, as he was learning from Tasha,
weren't the easiest to be around. He wouldn't expect caterwauling and
screaming from Jade but one never knew what existed underneath.

The rocks shone in the headlights as he pulled into
the small clearing. "No SUV."

She frowned. "I see that. I'll check the doors
as I'm here anyway."

He drove to the small porch, his headlights shining
on the first door. Jade hopped out and went to check the lock. Giving
him a thumbs up, she went to the refrigerator truck.

On her way back, she told him. "Both are locked
tight. I want to walk to the gravesite and make sure he isn't lying
injured somewhere.

"If he was, his vehicle would be here."

"Not if it was stolen." She raised an eyebrow.

She was right. He turned off the truck, hopped out
and pocketed the keys. "Let's go."

There was enough moonlight to show them the way. He
reached for her arm and tucked it against his anyway. He didn't want
her falling and hurting herself. The path was uneven and rocky in good
light and with poor light this path could be an ankle breaker. In a
few minutes they reached the gravesite.

"I don't see anything." Then again he hadn't
brought a flashlight.

Jade motioned to the rocks in front of them. "I'm
going to climb up to make sure. At least that way, I can have a good
look around."

Dane moved first. He stepped onto the first big boulder
and then onto the second and the third. He held out his hand and helped
her up beside him each time. The moonlight cast an eerie glow on the
rocks and created squat blue shadows off others.

"I don't see anyone here."

She stared around at the empty vastness of dark trees
and hills. "I guess you're right. It was a faint hope. I just thought
that maybe..."

"It only took us a minute to be sure. Now we
are. Are you good to go back to the hotel now?"

"I guess. What about you? Do you want to check
in with your brother? See if they found the old man?"

"I'll text him."

Jade released his hand and made her way down to ground
level. She walked around while he sent his brother a text. He waited
for a moment, then sent a second one. "He's not answering."

She turned to stare at him. "Do you want to stop
on the way back and check in?"

He stared at her. What he wanted was to spend the
night with her and that wasn't going to happen...not this weekend. Next
weekend – who knew? He did not want to take her to John's house because
she'd be party to any scene that developed there. Perhaps an ugly scene
he didn't want to expose her to. Lately there'd been plenty of those.

"No, I'll take you back to the hotel first."

She shrugged and started to walk back to the clearing
and his truck. She stopped abruptly and pointed to something in the
rocks over by the property line. "What's that red spot in the rocks
just below the tree line?"

He frowned, barely making out what she was talking
about. "Let's find out."

She led the way. The moon slunk behind the clouds,
dimming their vision yet again. Dane hopped over several rocks and came
down beside the crumpled figure in front of him. "Shit."

"What is it?" She reached his side as he
answered.

"It's not
what
… It's Emile."

J
ade would like to think that, in emergency situations,
life in Haiti would move at top speed. Only they couldn't raise anyone
on the phone when they tried to get help. She didn't understand it.
Bruce's line was busy. John wasn't answering. And the cloud cover was
building, dimming their light even further.

"So now what?"

"I think he's coming around." Dane said,
bending down. "Emile. It's Dane. Can you hear me?"