CALLEY (RIBUS 7 Book 3) (18 page)

“Name?”

“William MacKay… um… on 49th.”

“Just a moment.”

Chelan listened to the number and memorized it. She entered in the digits quickly and then waited, the time between each ring an eternity. Finally, a woman answered.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is William there, please?”

“No, he’s still at work. Could I ask who is calling, please?”

Chelan thought fast. “My name is Jessica Collins, and I’m a colleague of his. I’m calling from the West Coast, and I seem to have misplaced his work number. Could I impose upon you to give it to me, please?”

The woman hesitated. “Okay,” she finally said, and she rattled off a number.

“Thank you so very much,” said Chelan, and hung up quickly. She stilled her beating heart and then entered the number into her phone.

A receptionist answered. “MacKay, Maddison, and Wells, how may I help you?”

Chelan was temporarily thrown, and pleasantly so by the fact that her brother was a named partner. “Mr. William MacKay, please.”

“Who may I tell him is calling?”

Chelan squeezed her eyes tight trying to think of William’s old girlfriend’s name. “It’s Susan Day.”

“Thank you, just a moment. I will see if he is available.”

Chelan wiped the perspiration from her brow. Time seemed to stand still, and she felt like she was in suspended animation.

“Hello,” came a male voice.

A lump formed in her throat instantly. “William,” she breathed, her voice barely audible.

There was silence. “Susan?”

Chelan collected herself quickly. “William, it’s me, Chelan.” She waited, but there was no response. She became anxious. “It’s me, William. Please believe me. I’m back and I need to talk to you.”

“Uh, look, whoever you are, my sister died years ago.”

“No! Will, I went missing. But I’m very much alive. Please, I need to see you.”

Chelan waited nervously, but there was only silence on the other end. “William, I’m home, in Oregon, but Mom and Dad have moved. If you don’t want to talk to me, I will more than understand, but please tell me where they are.”

There was a long pause, but finally William spoke. “Uh, how do I know that it’s really you?”

Chelan sighed. “Oh, Will. You know me so well. You are my brother and my best friend. You are my confidant and my rock. Ask me anything.”

There was more silence, and Chelan felt her heart sinking. Then finally…

“Oh, Jesus, it
is
you.”

Joy suddenly infused her. “Can you take some time off? I need to see you.”

“Christ, Chelan… Where have you been?”

“I don’t want to discuss any of this on the phone, Will. Can you take time off and meet me?”

“I… Ah, yes, I think so. Where?”

Chelan rubbed at her forehead. “The Marriott, in Bothell, Washington, just north of Seattle? You should be able to fly in soon. I’ll take the bus there and wait for you.”

“Chelan, why don’t you come here? Stay at my place—”

“No! No, I can’t. Listen. I phoned your place and got a woman. She thought I was a colleague of yours.”

“That’s Marion, from university. She’s my wife.”

Chelan smiled. “That’s wonderful, Will! But look, can you come this way without her knowing?”

“Why?”

“Please. I can’t explain right now. Just make some excuse. Tell her you have to meet an important client or something.”

“Chelan, I don’t understand.”

“Look. Take a few days off. Meet me in Bothell. I’ll explain everything then. But please don’t betray me to anyone.”

“Okay, okay. Umm, hold on a sec while I look… Okay, I’ll leave in the early morning. I should be there late afternoon if I can get a flight. Give me your number in case something goes awry.”

Chelan hesitated. “I actually don’t know my number. You still have your old email? I will email it to you once I hang up.”

There was a pause. “You don’t know your number?”

Chelan almost laughed. “Um, no. The phone was rather a sudden acquisition.”

“Okay, you can explain that one to me also. So, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“And you won’t say a word?”

“Not a word.”

Chelan slumped forward in relief. “Thanks, Will. I love you.”

“I love you too, little sister,” he said, and hung up.

Chelan closed her eyes for a moment while she regrouped. She needed to get to the bus station right away. Then she needed to rest and clear her thoughts. The coming days were going to be a trial, but she looked forward to them with all her heart. She needed company. And she needed her family now more than ever.

It was late at night when Chelan arrived at the hotel. She wasted no time in having a hot shower and a bite to eat.
More Earth food
, she mused,
and coffee, the real thing
. Finally, she emptied the backpack and sorted through her limited wardrobe. She selected an oversized white T-shirt and slipped into it, its hem just hitting mid-thigh.

She walked through the French doors that separated the living area from the bedroom and pounced onto the king-sized bed. Sleep came instantly, her troubled mind finally at rest.

*****

Chelan was jarred from her slumber. She sat bolt upright and then clutched at her aching head. She looked around, totally disoriented. Suddenly, she remembered where she was. Then it came again, the hard, determined knocking. Chelan winced at the pain in her temples and struggled to free herself from the blankets. She shuffled to the door, her head throbbing. “Who is it?” she croaked.

“It’s William. Open up.”

Chelan opened the door, and their eyes locked.

“Oh, Jesus!” he gasped. “It’s really you!” And he scooped her up, squeezing her so tight she could barely breathe. William finally set her down and shook his head. He held her arms out and looked over her. “God, you look good, Chelan. Where have you been?”

Chelan peered up into his warm brown eyes. “It’s been a while, sweet brother, and I’ve been far away.”

William shook his head in disbelief. “Where? Why?”

Chelan smiled. “I’ll get to all that, but first I just want to look at you.” She studied him—his slender six-foot, one-inch frame, his light brown hair so meticulously styled. His black suit was covered by a light gray London Fog overcoat, all just as scrupulously cared for. He was a perfectionist, as was she. “I hope your business has gone well, Will, and judging by the name of your firm, I would say it has.”

William’s eyes widened in astonishment as he closed the door behind him. “Yes, my business is fine, Chelan, but what I want to know about is you.” He stepped back from her. “Look at you. You’ve been transformed. You’re beautiful—well, not that you weren’t before… but…”

Chelan blushed. “I know what you mean. I used to be a tad heavy, and now I’m not.”

William chuckled. “I guess that’s what I meant. You were just… pleasantly plump.”

Chelan gave him a wily look. “Just ‘plump,’ you say. Well, anyway, this new me took a lot of hard work.”

“I’ll say, obviously. And wherever you were, you came to no harm.”

Chelan instinctively reached for her neck, instantly relieved that the shirt hid her faded scars. “I have come to no harm,” she whispered.

William took her by the hand and led her to the couch. Then he stopped and turned her away from him. “Wow! Look at your hair.”

Chelan swayed it out of her way as she sat. “It’s never been cut except for a few trims.”

William chuckled. “How do you sleep at night without getting all tangled up in it?”

Chelan kept her smile, but suddenly her heart stumbled. All the nights she had spent with her men suddenly flooded in on her. She could feel Korba’s hands upon her, his fingers running the length of her hair. And she could picture Fremma wrapping it up and securing it for her as only he could do so well. The braids she had woven to save Shan the arduous task of detangling it in the caverns almost made her tear up. And Dar… Her throat constricted. “Ah, I manage,” she uttered feebly. A muted tremor escaped, running the length of her body, and she stilled herself quickly. But then she realized that her brother did not have the Warlords’ eye for body language, and she relaxed.

Needing a change of topic, she focused on her fingers as they aimlessly traced circles in the fabric of the couch. “Where’s Mom and Dad?”

Will stiffened. He sat back and exhaled sharply. “Oh god, Chelan. I don’t know where to begin.”

Chelan had only to glance at him and she knew the truth. Will was so easy to read, just like she had once been. “They’re gone, aren’t they?” she stated sorrowfully.

Will looked at her, his eyes heavy. “Yes.”

Chelan looked down again. “As soon as I knocked on the door of our cabin, I knew somehow. They loved that area. I knew they would never have moved.”

William reached for her hand. “They were doing well, Chelan. Your disappearance was a shock to them, as it was to all of us. But they handled it okay. Mom was always sure you would come back someday, and she never gave up hope.”

Chelan felt her tears coming, and she didn’t try to stop them.

“After a couple of years, Dad finally decided to spend some of all the damn money they had been hoarding, and they bought a huge rig for touring—a truck and trailer. They sold the house back east and moved to Oregon.” William smiled. “Using that as home base, they toured constantly, covering most of the States and much of Canada. But then there was an accident. No one’s quite sure what happened. Maybe Dad fell asleep at the wheel, or maybe some winds jackknifed the trailer. But either way, they ran off the road.” Will watched his sister carefully. “They died instantly, Chelan. They didn’t suffer.”

Chelan squeezed her eyes tight and finally succumb to her sobs. She slumped into William. “I should have been there,” she cried. “I should have told them I was okay.” And she convulsed.

William held her to his chest and stroked her slender back. “They died happy, Chelan. Their only other wish would have been to still have you in their life. But Mom always maintained that you were well somewhere, despite the dismal outcomes of all the searches. She and Dad held on to that. It was their way of surviving.”

Chelan continued to cry. “I wanted to tell them how much I loved them.”

William hugged her closer. “They knew that, Chel. They always knew.”

Chelan cried for a long time, and then finally collapsed down into his lap. She lay there silently while William rubbed her arm. Chelan squinted at the ceiling, her mind flipping back and forth between her parents and the Empire. She had lost Dar years ago, his alien heart unable to share her with Korba and Fremma. Then she had lost Shan and his baby. Now, with her parents dead, she felt as though she floated in a sea of hopelessness. RIBUS 7 was her sanctuary, but right now, the mighty ship seemed but a figment of her harried mind.

William watched her for a long time. Then he dared to speak. “Are you ready to talk?”

Chelan blinked up at him, his soft voice rousing her back to her senses. She hauled herself upright, her aching head nearly incapacitating her. She looked at him through red, swollen eyes. “It’s a long story.”

William smiled. “I have a long time.”

Chelan smiled feebly. “And I have a splitting headache.”

William reached for his briefcase and quickly handed her two Tylenols. Then he jumped up and brought her a glass of water. Chelan swallowed the pills and held her head in her hands. “God, I had forgotten how bad headaches can be,” she muttered.

William smiled. “I know. I eat those pills like candy.”

Chelan finally gave him a genuine smile. Then she took a deep and cleansing breath. “You have to promise me two things first.”

William nodded. “Anything.”

Chelan cleared her hair from her face. “First, that you will keep all that I say to you to yourself until death parts you from this world.”

William nodded. “You know I will.”

Chelan sniffed. Then an impish grin touched her lips. “And second, I am not crazy. You have to promise me not to have me committed.”

Will chuckled. “I’m not likely to do that. I just got you back. I’m not giving you up so soon.”

Chelan’s smile waned a bit. “I’m serious.”

William’s jaw clenched, his eyes intent upon her. “So am I.”

Suddenly, she laughed. “Oh god, I thought this was going to be easy, but now I have no idea where to start.”

William reached out and touched her hand reassuringly. “How about at the beginning?”

Chelan rolled her eyes and sighed. “Okay, you asked for it. I was on that trip, and I stopped for the night in BC.”

William nodded. “I know the place. The RCMP took us there. We saw your tent and the car.”

“Yes, well, I had gone to find some water for a bath when I ran into some people.” Chelan hesitated, the whole unreal situation replaying in her mind as though it had just occurred.

William felt a chill run through him. “What kind of people?”

Chelan frowned. “Well, I didn’t know for sure, but they were dressed in flowing black shrouds.”

William recoiled. “Oh no, not a cult… or some sort of extremists…”

Chelan shook her head. “No, but that’s the first thing I thought too. Really, I’m not sure what all happened then, but when I tried to run away, everything just went black.”