Chapter 24

Twenty-Four

W alter

Denny and Kal whispered to each other by the door as I lay Dane on the bed and covered him.

"What did you see?" I asked him. The tall man was shaking, his face paler than I'd ever seen it.

"He was… underground, part of the building was finished, like cement, and the rest was old and shaped like a cistern, a water collection container, but it wasn't wet. A pile of bones, some still with remains attached. He wanted us to see it, but I don't know if he knew about the code on the door, the one that Dee Dee saw. Do you think it will help?"

"Fuck yeah, it will," Denny said. "The Caltrans part alone will help us. We'll find this guy. Did you see any weapons?"

"No. He talked to us, though. He knew we were there. It wasn't like Ryan described it, like watching from afar."

"No, and when I went in, we were just watching. I wonder what changed?"

"He said he learned how to make a psychic link with people when he was in prison. That he could make people do things for him. I spoke to him, I remember that, but Dee Dee couldn't speak. He seemed shocked that the man could see us at all. He intends to spill Dee Dee's blood, somehow. And he wants it done there ."

"That's not going to happen," I said. "Denny, we've gotta find him."

"I'm on it."

He left the room, and Kal reached for me. "He's so strong, Walter. Dee Dee. The deep sleep is how his body recovers. I don't think he knows that, but this isn't harming him, his use of the board. He's connected to it, but it does not harm him. I know you worry, but he's stronger than even he knows. I could feel it as he faced his would-be killer. He was not afraid."

I didn't know how to respond to that, but I shook his hand. "Thank you for going with him, for being there for him."

Kal nodded. "He and I are linked by the magic of the carnival. I don't think I realized that until I touched the planchette with him. I know Ryan told you that we made a promise to help another Traveler, but I think it's more than that."

I felt such gratitude toward him and Ryan. If they hadn't stopped for him in the desert, if they would have left him to walk… if Holland would have found him? Alone? I never would have found the answers, I never would have found him… never would have felt the profound depths of emotion he'd awakened in me.

"You've gained a lifetime of gratitude from me."

He smiled and patted my shoulder before taking his leave.

I exhaled and sucked in a huge breath, realizing I'd been in such a panic when I found Dane and Kal with the board that I'd been near to hyperventilating. I checked on Dane one last time before leaving him to rest. He was breathing so soundly, not twitching like he had after the last time. He was even snoring softly. I hoped what Kal said was right, that he wasn't being harmed by the use of the board. Maybe the visions weren't harming him, but the stress of constantly being in danger would take a toll. We had to end this threat. Now.

I stepped out of the room and into another heated discussion.

"You can't expect me to not have questions after what I just saw, Gene."

Gene hung his head as he stood before Cooper, and he rubbed his face. The exhaustion was getting to all of us. I'd probably slept the best of all of them in the past forty-eight hours, and that wasn't saying much.

"It's fucking complicated, Cooper, and not from a police perspective. Hey," Gene said as I joined them. "How is he?"

I shook my head. "I don't even know. Resting, at least." But the determination on my face must have snapped Gene out of his tiredness. I started to say we needed to fucking go get this guy, but two things: Cooper was there, and I wasn't leaving Dane. I couldn't.

"What happened in that room?" Cooper repeated his question. "Does this have to do with the carnival?"

"What the fuck do you know about it?" Denny asked as he joined us.

Cooper's eyes went wide as he took in Denny's fierce countenance. "I… I've heard some things. It's one of those journalistic myths, like, one of those stories you'd expect to find in the Inquirer so most people ignore it, but it's been circulating since my grandfather was in the business. I only brought it up because Mr. Miller mentioned it…"

We all gave him our full attention, but Denny took a step closer, menacingly.

"What. The Fuck. Do you know about it?"

" Nothing . Nothing concrete, anyway. There are stories about this carnival that travels around, that there have been people who were never seen again after attending, or people who attended and had bizarre experiences that changed their lives. I've never been able to find anything to corroborate the stories, but I've heard enough to not be able to ignore it."

"We can't talk about it, Coop," Gene said. "It's not our story to tell, and we've got an obligation to protect these men."

"I'm not asking because I want to hurt anyone." His big blue eyes were round. "Gene, you know me. I don't hurt people intentionally."

"But you're a reporter," Denny said. "Your work hurts people whether you intend it or not."

"Investigative reporter, Detective Hamilton. And my intention is to do all I can to prevent harm." He looked between us and took a step back. Somehow this exchange between him and Denny seemed to have another level. Had they met before? "And that's what I want to do here. Don't tell me anything, that's fine. But how can I help?"

We all looked at each other, and then back at him.

"You could help," Denny said, his voice less gruff, but I wouldn't call it softer. "You could get this fucking guy's face all over the news and help us catch him. You could forget what you saw in that bedroom and anything that has to do with the fucking carnival. That's what you can do to help."

"Done. My crew is already working on the edits in the van. Do you want to see it before we put it out?"

"Please," Gene said softly. "And probably Detective Ramos should see it too, out of courtesy."

Cooper nodded. "Fine. I heard you mention Caltrans too. I've got contacts over there if that would be helpful."

We looked at each other again. It was always tricky accepting help from the media because it was usually tit for tat.

When we didn't answer, he rolled his eyes and stomped his foot a little. "Come on, Gene! Sam is my best friend. I'm not going to screw you guys over. I just… want to help. That man seems to have been through a lot, and there have already been too many people dead. Let me help you."

"Okay," Gene said. "Don't make me regret this. You take advantage of this and put a wedge between me and my wife, and I will?—"

"I won't, Gene, I swear. You can trust me."

Denny cursed, and again I wondered what the fuck was going on between these two.

"Can you work with Walter and Denny, please? I'm going to talk to Ramos. As soon as we get a location, we'll mount up."

"Sure," Cooper said. "Whatever I can do."

Denny frowned and walked out back, probably jonesing for a cigarette now that he'd fallen off the wagon.

"Yeah, okay," I said, ignoring my best friend's surprisingly bitter attitude. I didn't have time to grill him right now about this shit.

"Oh, another thing. Let me give Gene the number of my manager, Arthur Frye." He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Gene. "After everything Mr. Miller has been through, he's going to need someone to help him navigate his situation. Arthur's an attorney as well as a talent manager. He can suggest someone to handle all the requests you're going to get for more interviews. National news outlets are going to be hounding you as soon as this breaks, as well as print, radio…"

"Thank you," I said, getting the info from Gene on my phone right away. "Appreciate it."

This was exactly what Dane would need once we got through this immediate threat. Someone to help him navigate the travails of his "father's and mother's" legacies, and whatever financial pieces were left for him.

"I'll be back," Gene said. He frowned in the direction of Denny before heading into the kitchen.

"Great, now, what information did you need from Caltrans?"

"A location. We've found a site that may be connected to our suspect, but all we have is a code."

Cooper nodded a couple of times, then he reached into his shoulder bag and brought out a laptop. He carried it over to the couch and set it on the coffee table. He logged in and tapped with lightning-fast speed.

"Okay, I've got an internal map of all Caltrans properties in the state. What's the code?"

"Do I want to know how you have this?"

He shrugged, not looking up. "I did a story on Caltrans last year after questions arose about their budget and the lack of maintenance at a lot of the facilities. Unsafe working conditions, blah blah. The code?"

I still had Dane's poem in my hands, and I read him the line with the numbers.

"That number doesn't match anything on this map. Hmm. Okay, let me play with this."

"I'm going to check on…" I caught myself before I said "Dane".

"Sure." Cooper didn't look up as I left.

I peeked into Dane's room and noticed he'd rolled onto his back, but otherwise he was still out. I wished I could curl up beside him and hold him, but I felt like we were getting close?—

"Found it," Cooper shouted from the couch. Dane flinched but didn't wake up, so I eased the door closed and hurried back to the reporter. Gene and Ramos met me there.

"I think I have the connection. I located this Angeles Crest Scenic Byway Roadside inventory, and here's the map. So, the byway is off Highway 2 from Ca?ada. There's a Caltrans maintenance station there, but check this out. This bit of the Angeles forest was mined for gold. I found a listing for a mine from 1854. What if that number is related to the mine? It's literally underneath the Caltrans maintenance station—which is out of use now, by the way."

"Jesus," Ramos said. "That's not far off the two-ten. Evans worked that whole area. Let's go check it out."

"Let me call Dax," Gene said. "He can meet us there. Where's Denny?—"

"I'll stay here," he said as he returned to the room from the patio, glancing at me. "If Dee Dee remembers anything else when he wakes up, we can let you know."

I felt better knowing that Denny was staying. I didn't trust Dane's safety to anyone else, and who knew how many "sentinels" this guy had out there.

"Thank you," Cooper said. "I'll send Gene the final clip as soon as it's ready."

I shook his hand. "Thanks for your help."

Cooper nodded and then gave Denny a lingering look before he left.

Gene and Ramos headed out, promising to keep us updated, but as soon as the door shut, Denny turned to me.

"I've got an idea, and it's fucked up—but hear me out. That fake delivery man? Ramos would only say he was one of the residents from the halfway house, and that he knew Evans and Holland." He looked around the corner. "I'm glad he's gone, because when I went outside, I called and got a buddy who knows someone at LAPD to get me the transcripts of the interview. This fucking guy, he was crying , said Evans was in his head, making him crazy. That he wanted to be locked up to get away from him, wanted to be ‘free'. They have him on fucking suicide watch at the jail, man. He was crying about how Evans was going to bleed him and throw him in a pile of bones."

"That's… Kal described it as a pile of bones underground. That has to be the place where they're going…"

"I'm texting Gene and Dax. I don't trust Ramos, since he didn't fucking tell us that shit. Walter, man, we've got to make a move here. If we stay in this house?—"

"I know," I said. He was right. But here, we could control the environment. The minute we left, Dane would be vulnerable. I was about to say more when my phone started buzzing in my pocket, at the same time someone pounded on the front door.

"What the fuck?" Denny said, moving to check it.

I pulled out my phone… Mom?

Denny checked the peephole before opening the door. "What is it?"

I accepted the call. "Hey, Mom? Hang on a second." I paused to hear what the officer at the door had to say.

"Sir, dispatch called, there's apparently a gas leak reported on this street. We've got to evacuate you all."

"Walter? Is everything okay?"

I stood from the couch and put the phone back to my ear. "Is everything okay, Mom?"

"Oh, yes, I wanted to say thank you for the flowers?—"

"You better fucking check this out before we leave this house and become sitting ducks. Verify this with PG and fucking E right now, goddammit." Denny returned to my side as the officer spoke into his radio.

It seemed we would be leaving the house regardless. This felt too coincidental. And my mother's words just registered. Flowers?

"Did you say flowers, Mom?"

"I'm sorry, did I interrupt? I just wanted to say thank you for this beautiful bouquet."

I put the phone on speaker and held it out to Denny. "Did you see who brought the flowers, Mom?"

Denny's eyes flared, and he dialed his phone, and I heard him ask for our captain.

"No, Kathleen answered the door."

"Mom, where are the flowers now?"

"They're in the kitchen with Kathleen. She's putting them in water."

"Mom, listen to me carefully. Tell her to leave them on the counter. Have her lock the doors, and I want you to get my gun out of the safe. Denny's calling for an officer to come out to the house. Do not open the door until Denny calls you with the officer's name."

She was silent for a moment, and then I heard her exhale into the phone. "Okay," she said, her voice deeper now, deadly serious instead of the lighthearted tone she'd started with. "Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?"

We'd been through these instructions hundreds of times with Dad. What to do if there was a threat, what protocol to follow. It had been a long time since I'd even considered we might have to use it.

"I do. I'm sorry, Mom. I'm going to have an officer take you into protective custody until I can get there."

"Whatever you think is best, Walter. Are you safe?"

"I am. I love you."

Denny hung up his phone. "Mrs. Muse? It's Denny. It will be an Officer Santos arriving in less than ten minutes."

"Thank you, Dennis," she said, and then I heard her tell Kathleen to please grab her medications and the duffle in the bottom of her closet.

"I'm so sorry, Mom. I'm going to be there as soon as I can, okay?"

"I'll be fine, dear. Be safe."

"I will. Mom?" I took the phone off speaker, stepped out onto the patio, and shut the door. I had to tell her, as I knew it would mean as much to her as it had me.

"Yes, son?"

"I found him."

She was quiet for a few beats, and I heard Kathleen talking in the background.

"Dane Donovan?" Mom's voice was barely above a whisper. "Oh, Walter…"

"I know. I can't tell you everything now, but I will. He's alive and… really something." I took a moment to savor the satisfaction of solving the most important case of my life, despite the fact I couldn't go on record with my findings. "Mom? I'm sorry I didn't send you flowers, but there's a chance the delivery is connected with his case. Did you happen to see the card?"

"I did. It said, ‘I'll see you again. Buttonwillow.' I thought it was a strange way for you to sign it. If I would have been thinking a little clearer, I would have called you before accepting them. You don't send flowers, you bring them to me. I'm sorry."

"You couldn't have known, Mom. It's okay."

"Is he okay? Dane?"

"He will be," I said. "I have a lot to tell you, but I'm with him now. You'll be meeting him soon."

"Oh," she said, surprised. "Walter, Kathleen is at the door. Officer Santos is here, along with Captain Barnett. I'll ask that they keep you posted."

"I love you, Mom. Be safe."

We hung up, and my heart was pounding, but I had to think straight.

I jumped when the door slid open behind me, and someone grabbed my arm. I turned to find Dane clutching my forearm.

Dane's eyes widened. "I'm sorry. I've got to stop sneaking up on you."

I put my hand over his and started to assure him I looked forward to getting used to it, but then Denny jogged up behind him.

"Fuck this piece of shit," Denny said as he returned from checking with the officer at the door. "We've got to evacuate. Somehow the fucker managed to cause a gas leak."

"I'll grab Ryan and Kal," Denny said. "No time to pack up, we gotta go."

"Walter, the board."

It had helped us up to this point. Evans and Holland seemed to be everywhere, and he somehow knew how to get to each of us. Mom's card said, "I'll see you again. Buttonwillow."

I turned to Dane. "Let's grab the board."

I followed him down the hall to his room.

"Is your mom okay?" he asked as he picked up the board and planchette. He slipped his old boots on and rubbed at his eyes. "How long did I sleep?"

"Not long enough. Mom's okay, she's in protective custody, but we've got to go. We're out of time here."

He held up the board. "We'll find him."

"He's going to be at Buttonwillow." I wasn't the magic one in this scenario, but I knew it was true. Holland wanted a showdown.

Dane took my hand and I unholstered my pistol as we left the safety of the house together.

"Hey," an out-of-breath Ryan said as he and Kal met us outside the front door. He pulled out the keys to lock it up. "We can help?—"

"We need to get you two somewhere safe," Denny said. "I'm going to have the officers here take you into protective custody."

Ryan and Kal looked at each other, and Ryan gave Kal a sad smile. "I don't know what we could do for him now," he said. "I'm sorry, Dane."

Kal turned to me, and that crease formed on his forehead. "Keep him safe, Detective," Kal said.

"He'll be in touch when it's safe. I'm sorry?—"

"Don't be. Just take care of him."

I nodded and pulled Dane against me. "I will."

I threw my keys to Denny when we reached my truck and I opened the back door. Dane looked at me in surprise.

"Let's find him."

Dane's determined expression sent shards of fear into my heart.

Make or break time.

Please don't let it be break.