With a sudden start, Phoebe sat up in bed. Certain she had heard Lee summon her, she checked the other side. The sheets were cold neath her fingertips. “Lee?” The clock aside the bed read 4:55. She switched on a light. In her bare feet, she donned her robe and peered into the bathroom and called again. Turning on the lights as she passed, she searched the house. His car was absent from the garage.
Fearful of what might have happened, she placed a call to Lee’s cell phone. Voicemail answered, and she left a message for him to call her. Then she dialed Ed. “Lee ne’er made it home, and he doesn’t answer his cell.”
A sleepy voice responded. “That’s odd. I talked to him this morning just before he left Williamsburg. It was around two. He should be home by now. Let me check further, and I’ll get back to you.”
As she hung up the phone, she muttered her thanks. Unlike when she had lived with the Arrohateck, she felt so alone—always alone. There the women played separate roles from the men and consoled each other. In this time period she had no extended family. Neither did Lee.
Briefly she thought of calling Meg, but decided to wait. At any minute Lee might walk through the door, or Ed might call to say that he had been found. Heather would rouse shortly. She needed to remain brave for her daughter’s sake.
When the clock struck seven, Phoebe fed and bathed eight-month-old Heather. She splashed and cooed, unaware that her poppa was late. Her eyes and skin tone were brown, her hair black like her poppa’s. At eight, Phoebe heard a car on the road outside. Hoping that it was Lee, she ran to the window. As she parted the curtain, her hope sank. The car was red, not the dark blue of Lee’s Thunderbird. At eight-thirty, the phone rang. She hurried to answer, only to be asked about a magazine subscription. At nine, she faced the four winds and said her prayers to Ahone. At nine-twenty, she heard another car. This time, it pulled into the drive. When Ed’s bald head emerged from the car, her heart nearly stopped. ’Twas bad news. He wouldn’t have visited in person if it wasn’t. Fighting tears, she answered the door and invited him inside.
“Lee’s car was found. He hit a deer and apparently called in the accident around 2:40 this morning. By the time the tow truck arrived, he was gone. The deer had been shot. Ballistics will verify if it was from his gun, but I suspect he put the animal out of its misery.”
“Then where is he?”
“It’s anyone’s guess. There was a lot of blood at the scene, but we think it belonged to the deer. I’m making certain forensics goes over the area and car with a fine-toothed comb.” She was puzzled why investigators would use such an instrument, but he continued, “There was no sign of a struggle. Although we can’t rule out foul play at this point, he might have been injured and in a daze, then simply wandered off. In that case, rest assured, we’ll find him soon and bring him home. The search dogs are trying to pick up his track as we speak.”
Whilst Ed spoke in a comforting manner, she had already been a detective’s wife long enough to comprehend what he left unsaid. His brow furrowed, making his bushy eyebrows appear more like a hairy caterpillar. His countenance alerted her that he was worried. “Ed—”
“Phoebe, is there anyone who can stay with you, or somewhere I can drive you? I don’t want you to be alone until Lee’s found.”
He was more vexed than she had feared. “Aye,” she responded.
“Then please make the call now. I won’t leave until I know you’re in safe hands.”
She touched his hand. “I know you’re worried, but he’s not dead.”
Not wishing to share his emotion with her, he pulled away. “Make your call, Phoebe.”
His reaction warned her of his deepest fear. “Do you recall when Lee was shot and nearly died?” she asked.
His gaze came to rest upon hers. “How could I ever forget? He saved my life.”
“I felt the shooting when it happened. This morning I heard him call out to me, but he hadn’t died. I would feel it, if that were the case.”
“I hope you’re right. I’d still prefer you weren’t alone until we find out what’s happened. I would be able to do my job better knowing that someone was with you. If the situation were reversed, Lee would do the same for Marian. If you can’t find someone to come here, then you and the baby can stay with us.”
She thanked him and placed a call to Meg at the doctor’s office where she worked. Ten minutes passed afore Meg returned the call.
“Phoebe, what’s wrong?”
“Lee’s missing.” Phoebe went on to explain the situation as best as she could.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
She hung up the phone. “Meg and her daughter will stay with me.”
“Good. Everything’s going to be all right.”
He gave her a hug and kissed her upon the cheek afore parting. The action warned her how worried he was. But she had grown accustomed to waiting. Her first husband, Lightning Storm, had frequently gone on hunts and raiding parties. And Henry had sailed the Atlantic, often absent for months at a time. On his final voyage, he had contracted the smallpox and taken three years to return. For now, she must focus on her daily activities and pray that Lee would be found.
An hour passed afore Meg and Tiffany arrived. “Any news?” Meg asked, embracing Phoebe.
“Ed says he will call when he has more information.”
Her friend squeezed Phoebe’s shoulder. “He’ll be all right, Phoebe.”
Meg’s presence gave her comfort, but throughout the day, Ed brought no word. After putting Heather to bed that eve, she went into the bedroom she shared with Lee. His jeans remained folded in the drawers, and his suits hung in the closet. ’Twas almost like he was on duty. A photograph rested on the dresser. It had been taken afore Heather’s birth at a historical park in front of replica seventeenth-century sailing ships. “Lee, call to me again, and I shall find you.”
The phone rang. She overheard Meg’s voice in the other room. “I’ll get her.” A knock came to the bedroom door. “Phoebe, it’s Ed.”
She picked up the phone, praying that he had some news.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier, but there’s nothing new to report. The dogs picked up a scent and lost it almost as quickly as they had found it. We can only surmise that he must have gotten a ride with someone, but what happened after that, we don’t know.”
Detecting something unspoken, she said, “Ed, be completely truthful with me.”
“All right. Lee has vanished without a trace. So far, there are no leads—absolutely nothing. We’ll need to wait for the lab results to see if anything turns up there, but my hunch is that someone followed him. They were likely armed, otherwise there would have been a struggle. We’ll go through all of the cases he’s worked on and see if we can find a likely suspect. I have a couple in mind that I want to question.
“Phoebe, there is one other thing I must ask, and please forgive me, but has everything been okay between you and Lee?”
“I don’t under... aye, and e’en if he was angry at me for some reason, he would ne’er leave Heather. He adores her.”
“Thanks. I’m certain I would have heard something from Lee if there had been difficulties, but I had to ask. I’ll let you know when I have more information.”
No closer to answers than she had been afore, Phoebe hung up the phone. How could she sleep? Lee was gone. For the first time since his disappearance, she truly realized that he might not return. Surrendering to her grief, she sank to the floor. She curled into a ball and sobbed.
“Phoebe?” Meg knocked on the door. Her friend sat aside her and drew her into her arms.
Phoebe cried on Meg’s shoulder. “What if I’m wrong? He could be dead.”
Meg hushed her. “I don’t want to hear you talking like that. He’s not dead.”
“But Meg, Lightning Storm died in battle. Two days passed afore we discovered what had happened. A runner brought the news.”
Her friend dried Phoebe’s tears with a tissue. “Believe in yourself. You said you would know if he had died.”
She squeezed Meg’s arm. “Thank you, my friend.”
“Will you be all right now?”
Phoebe nodded, and Meg stayed with her a few minutes longer, making certain that she was all right. Once more, Phoebe attempted to ready for bed. She changed into a thigh-length nightgown with thin shoulder straps and placed a hand to the bed where Lee normally slept. The spot was cold. She must do something—anything—to discover what had happened.
Instead of climbing into the empty bed, Phoebe returned to the parlor and placed a candle on the coffee table. After lighting it, she sat cross-legged on the floor and concentrated on the flame. Soon the mist engulfed her.
“Phoebe?”
At the sound of Meg’s voice, she blinked.
“What are you doing?”
Phoebe focused on Meg’s concerned face. “I’m participating in the dreaming to reach Lee’s spirit.”
“Then you think he’s...”
Dead. Even though she hadn’t said the word, Phoebe heard it all the same. “Nay, you were right. I would know, but if I reach him, he can tell me what has happened. Meg, afore all this, he called to me.”
Meg’s expression changed to puzzlement. “You know I want to believe you—”
“Then share with me.”
Phoebe held out her hand, and Meg grasped it. “The dreaming again?”
“Aye.”
Meg stared at the lizard tattoos upon Phoebe’s upper arms. Her gaze dropped to the snake tattoos upon her thighs.
Though Phoebe wouldn’t have been embarrassed, she was glad the serpent tattoos coiling about her breasts were hidden from Meg’s view. “I got them when I became a woman,” she said.
Meg sent her a nervous smile. “You’ll have to give me the name of your tattoo artist.”
The faith she had placed in her friend had been well founded. As she reseated herself, Meg sat aside her. There was no time to waste. Lee counted on her to locate him.
Phoebe stared into the flame, recalling the first time she had shared the dreaming with Lee. He had wanted proof that she hailed from the seventeenth century. She had memorized everything about his countenance, from his brown-skin tone to his prominent cheekbones. In the Algonquian tongue she was known as Walks Through Mist. Concentrating on the flame, she sought the other realm now. The white greyhound stood afore her, and she followed him through the mist. “Lee,” she called as she traveled.
No response.
She continued walking. The mist failed to clear. She walked ’til her feet ached, but Lee ne’er answered her hails. She blinked, and the room came into view. Suddenly chilled, she put on her robe.
“What does it mean?” Meg asked.
Discomfited by not connecting with Lee, Phoebe attempted to hide her true fear. Mayhap she had erred. “He has not found a way to speak to me.”
Meg placed an arm over her shoulder. “Then we’ll try again later. He’ll be fine. You’ll see.”
“Aye.” But her response was half-hearted. Lee, where are you?
When the phone rang she rushed to answer, hoping Ed had something to report.
“Phoebe?” came Shae’s voice. “I saw on the news that Lee is missing. Is there anything I can do to help?”
Shae had been instrumental in helping Phoebe cope when she had first arrived in the twenty-first century. “There’s naught we can do but wait. Meg is staying with me.” She went on to tell Shae as much as she knew. Afore she hung up, Shae reassured her to call if needed.
Meg stifled a yawn.
“Get some rest,” Phoebe said. “One of us needs to be awake when the lasses arise.”
“I’m going to tell my boss that I need a couple of days off.”
“Don’t be daft. I’ll manage.”
Covering her mouth, Meg barely hid her gape. “We’ll talk about it in the morning. Just promise me that you’ll wake me if you need or hear anything.”
“I shall.” After Meg shuffled to the spare bedroom, Phoebe hesitated, not wishing to return to the room she had shared with Lee. Due to the long hours he had kept, she often went to bed alone. Finally, she moved forward. Tonight was like any other. He was simply late. As she entered the room, she looked around to see if anything was out of the ordinary. Had she missed any clues? She had heard his call. Had it been a cry for help?
Exhausted, she went into the adjoining bathroom and readied herself for bed. As she did so, she envisioned Lee walking in circles. She returned to the bedroom and slipped betwixt the sheets. Other nights, Lee would have given her tender caresses, and they would have made love. Lee, how could you leave Heather and me like this?
Burying her face in the pillow, she cried, pounding her fists against the mattress. When her energy was spent, she dried her tears. She must place faith in herself. For she would know if Lee were dead. He was alive, and she would find him.
Hours stretched to days. Ed reported the blood on Lee’s car had in fact belonged to the deer, and the animal had been mercifully dispatched by Lee’s gun. Beyond that, there were no leads or clues as to what had happened to him. Phoebe requested Ed to take her to the scene of the accident. He showed her the skid marks and the dried blood on the road. Then he went to the other side of the pavement to point where the search dogs had picked up Lee’s scent.
“We’ve scoured the area,” he said. “There is no sign of him. The only thing I can guess is that he got into another vehicle. If it was voluntarily, we would have heard from him. Even if he had been injured and a good Samaritan had happened by, the hospitals would have reported his admission. No one fitting his description has turned up. I’m working on the angle that he had been forced into another car, but right now, I have no leads.”
Aware that if a case wasn’t solved within the first twenty-four hours it often remained that way, Phoebe appreciated that Ed no longer pretended Lee would be found safe and sound. She scanned the forest. She had heard him call. But from where? “Tell me about the normal routine aft such an accident.”
“Okay, as you know, deer can shoot out of nowhere in a second. For the sake of argument, let’s say Lee was uninjured. He still would have likely been shaken. When he recovered sufficiently, he would have gotten out and checked the damage, after which he would have seen the injured deer and put it out of its misery. Then he’d call in the accident. He did all of that, so we know he was coherent enough to follow procedure.”
She listened to the rush of the James. Lee had been here. Why couldn’t she sense him? She followed a path through the trees ’til reaching the banks of the river. “Lee?”
“Phoebe, the dogs scoured the area and never picked up his scent again.”
“You’re right.” She retraced her steps along the path, and a crow settled in the tree and cawed. ’Twas the sign she had been looking for. The bird would lead her to Lee.