Almost Midnight (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3.5)(45)

He turned to look behind him, away from the light, and that’s all it took. The power, some unknown power, pulled him back.

All the way. Back to the snow. Back to the voices. The two strange men.

Chase didn’t open his eyes. Didn’t want to. He hurt. Hurt everywhere. His head throbbed. His leg throbbed. His back ached like a charley horse.

Now he could feel below his chest, but it hurt so bad, he wished he couldn’t. You can’t turn your back on a challenge, Chase. He heard Tami’s voice in his head and remembered what she’d said about the dog collar. Slowly moving his arm, surprised he could, he found his pocket. With eyes still closed, his fingers curled around the gift Tami had given him. He traced his thumb over the words cut into the leather.

“Told you he would make it,” someone said as if they’d seen him move. “I’ll stay with him, you go get us a body.”

Chase’s head throbbed; surely he’d misunderstood.

“Don’t you think they’ll just believe he got thrown from the crash? Animals got to him?”

“You’re forgetting, I volunteered a time or two with the Search and Rescue team. They won’t stop looking until they have the remains of all the victims. Besides, I’ve already called around. They have a body that fits our needs in the next county over. We’ll put it under what’s left of the fuel tank and light it, and they’ll never know it wasn’t him.”

Their words echoed in his head. Okay, he must be imagining things. Head injury, he thought. Then a pain hit, as if someone had a vise grip on his rib cage. It grew so intense that he screamed out. When it finally let go, he pulled Baxter’s collar up to his chest and held onto it. Then he let out a breath and tried to slip back into nothingness.

*

Chase smelled smoke. He felt cold. Colder than even the ice he rested on. Fever. He had a fever. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been out. Five minutes, or five hours. It didn’t matter, he told himself. He wasn’t sure anything mattered if what he believed about his parents, sister, and Tami was true.

He didn’t know what hurt the most. His body or his heart. And then suddenly he did know. His heart. He’d lost his family. Lost his dog. Lost everyone.

All of a sudden he heard footsteps coming his way. Another pain started at the top of his neck and crawled down his spine. He arched his back and moaned.

“Come on, boy. Let’s get out of here.”

Chase felt someone pick him up as if he weighed nothing. He opened his eyes. “Put me down,” he said, the words barely a whisper.

“Sorry, son. We gotta go.”

“What about the tracks?” the other man asked.

“Run some brush over them. With this weather, the team won’t make it down here for another twelve to fifteen hours.”

Chase was suddenly lifted from the ground. Up like he was floating. No, like he was flying. He turned his head away from the man’s chest who held him close. He was about sixty feet in the air, looking down at the plane crash. The last thing he saw before he passed out again was the smoke coming from part of the wreckage.


NOVEMBER 7

Chase heard voices. He lifted his eyelids, not sure where he was. Raising his head off a pillow, he stared at the bedside table and saw the dog collar Tami had given him.

Memories started ping-ponging around his head. Tami. The plane. The crash. The light. The two men.

Grief swelled in his chest and threatened to drown him. Nothing but pride stopped him from curling up in a little ball and sobbing.

Then other vague flashes started filling his head. Time in this bed. In pain. Fever. He’d had a high fever. He recalled the man, the one who’d worn the white lab coat, the one who’d showed up at the plane crash, sitting by his side. He could almost feel him now, running cold towels over him. His words had been calming. Telling Chase that he would be okay. That the pain would end soon.

It hadn’t felt like he would be okay. He’d hurt like hell.

Chase spotted a glass beside the dog collar. He remembered the man bringing him something to drink. It had tasted like some kind of berry concoction, but better than anything he’d ever tasted. When he’d finished one glass, he’d asked for more. But the man said he couldn’t drink too much. Chase had growled at the man, sounding almost animallike, not knowing where the urge had come from.

Another noise sounded outside the bedroom door. Chase pushed the memories away and sat up a bit. Suddenly, the berry smell filled his senses again. The door opened and the man carried in another glass.

Chase swallowed as his mouth watered. He sat up. He didn’t ask, but the man sat down on the edge of the mattress and put the glass in Chase’s hands.

He brought it to his lips and drank greedily. When he’d finished, the man took the glass from him.

“Do you remember anything?” he asked.

The momentary relief from the grief disappeared. The drowning sensation returned. “The plane crashed.”

He guy nodded. “I’m sorry for your loss. Your father was a good man.”

Chase recalled seeing this man in the lab when they’d gone for the test. “Are you Jimmy?”

“Yes.”

Chase’s gut tightened. “My dad didn’t trust you to look out for me,” he said without thinking.

Jimmy sighed. “We were just getting to know each other. But I’ve done all I can to help you. And I will continue to help you.”