The Calling

SEVEN

WHEN WE DREW NEAR the place we’d left Corey, we realized going straight to him wasn’t wise. We decided to take a look from farther down the shore.

We could hear a boat motor, but the running lights were off. There were people on board with flashlights, though, so we could see where it was.

Did that mean everyone was back in the boat? Did they have Corey?

A distant splash told us someone had gone in the water. Retrieving the bodies? Removing identifying parts from the helicopter? It sounded far-fetched, but if you kidnapped kids in a helicopter that crashed, you didn’t want local fishermen finding the wreckage.

Daniel tapped my arm. I followed his outstretched finger and saw two more flashlight beams strafing the forest right around where we’d left Corey.

I gripped Kenjii’s collar as we crept closer. Another flashlight beam flickered through trees farther down. Three searchers. At least two more on the boat plus the diver.

So how would we get to Corey? Was he even still there? If they’d found him, had they—?

My brain stuttered over the thought.

Shot him? That was the easy way of saying it, like it didn’t mean what I knew it meant. Killed him.

Nicole was dead.

“Nic,” I whispered. “Nic’s—”

“We don’t know that,” Daniel whispered harshly, and I knew that’s what he’d been telling himself. It’s what I’d been thinking, too. Shot. Just shot. Hayley hadn’t seen exactly, so we could keep telling ourselves Nicole was only injured.

Kenjii whined and brushed my hand, and I patted her head.

“Corey,” Daniel whispered.

He meant we couldn’t think about Nicole. Just like we couldn’t think about Rafe. We had to focus on saving everyone else.

Oh God. How had it come to this? Where I had to concentrate on saving the friends I could. Forget the ones I couldn’t. The ones I’d lost. The ones who were already…

Daniel clutched my arm.

“Maya,” he whispered. “I need you.”

I nodded and took a deep breath to steady myself. Then I got us as close to the searchers as I dared, picking my way through shadows too dark for Daniel to see. I stopped, and we hunkered down. I wrapped both arms around Kenjii, whispering for her to stay quiet.

After a moment, a radio crackled.

“No, we haven’t found them,” a male voice said. “And we’re not going to. Even if they stuck around, they’d see us coming from a mile away. Especially after you shot the girl.”

I couldn’t make out the voice on the other end.

“Yeah, well, by that time, they’ll be long gone. If they aren’t fifty feet underwater.”

More unintelligible murmuring as the person on the other end responded.

“Just because you only found Jason and the mayor doesn’t mean they were the only ones who died. The others could have fallen out or floated from the wreck or—”

“Shut the hell up.” Another man’s voice. One that didn’t come from the radio. One that made the hair on my neck stand up. The man in the forest. The man who’d pointed a gun at me. The man who had my eyes and my cheekbones.

“The kids are fine,” the man continued. “They’re in excellent shape. Athletes, all of them. Champion swimmers and runners and fighters. Whatever else the St. Clouds screwed up, they did that right. They made them survivors.”

“I’m sor—”

“You want to keep your job? Then don’t apologize. Just find these kids. Find my daughter.”

Blood pounded in my ears and I grabbed a tree for support, nails digging into the bark.

Find my daughter.

He meant me. I’d known that. From that moment in the woods, I’d known it. I just hadn’t wanted it to be true.

Daniel gripped my shoulder, squeezing until I looked at him.

“It’s okay,” he murmured. “We can do this.”

I could tell by his expression that he hadn’t heard what the man said. He didn’t have my enhanced hearing.

I had to forget what the man said. I’d always known I was adopted. Rick Delaney was still my real dad. He raised me. Nothing else—no one else—mattered.

I whispered to Daniel, telling him the other things that the men had said.

“They’re after all of us,” Daniel said.

“I think so.”

“I don’t get it.”

I think I do. I think it wasn’t any coincidence that my family wound up in Salmon Creek. It wasn’t any coincidence that Sam came here, either. They found me and they found her, and they brought us back to Salmon Creek, with the rest of you. I don’t know what it all means, but I’m starting to understand. I can’t tell you any of that, though. I wish I could. God, I wish I could.

“Maya?”

I wanted to throw my arms around his neck and apologize.

I’m sorry, Daniel. I should have told you earlier. I screwed up and I think I’m still screwing up.

He hugged me and whispered, “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”

I pulled away. “I … I think I might have figured it out already. This isn’t the time to explain but… I think Sam might be right about you and her, and I think there’s more to it, and that’s why they’re after us, so you need to be careful.”

“We’ll both be careful,” he said. “We’ll have each other’s back. As always.”

As always.

“We’ll find Corey, then we’ll get out of here,” Daniel continued. “Get to a phone. Call our parents. Go home.”

I’m not sure we can do that. I’m not sure Salmon Creek is still there, and if it is, I’m not sure it’s safe. I’m not sure we can get Corey. I’m not sure he’s still—

“Corey’s fine,” Daniel said, as if reading my thoughts.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m not holding up very well.”

“Yes, you are. We just need to get this done, then you can have a breakdown. I’ll join you.”

I smiled. “Thanks.”

“Anytime. Now, let’s go.”

Like a cougar with a cache, I knew where we’d left Corey. Hayley said they’d moved a little, but he’d be close enough for me to find him.

The three searchers were still at work, but they seemed to be employing a grid pattern, like when a little boy in a neighboring town had gone missing and we’d all joined the hunt, systematically scouring the forest until we found him, scared and exhausted. Once we realized that these searchers were walking a grid, it was a simple matter of waiting until they’d passed the area where we’d left Corey so we could sneak in.

Still they’d abandon the grid if they heard something. So Daniel stood guard with Kenjii, and I got down on all fours and crawled.

When I saw a white shoe peeking from under a bush, I crept closer and whispered, “It’s me.” Corey started at the sound of my voice, then caught himself.

“You guys shouldn’t have come back.”

“We did. Now, shhh, before I regret it.”

I crawled under the branches and gave him a quick, one-armed hug. I whispered that we’d wait a minute to make sure all was clear. Then I said, “We’re going to crawl out of here until we get to Daniel, so he can help you walk.”

“I can walk—”

“Don’t play the hero or you’ll get us captured.”

“That’s so sweet. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”

“Hey, I hugged you, didn’t I? Now follow me and try not to make any noise.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He leaned down toward my ear. “I like it when you order me around. It’s really hot.”

I stifled a laugh, and for the first time since we’d gotten in that helicopter, I felt a little more like myself.

With his wounded knee, crawling wasn’t easy for Corey. It was more of a half-crawl, half-drag. When we reached Daniel and Kenjii, Corey shakily got to his feet, tested his knee, then slung an arm over each of us. We made our way through the forest, avoiding the flashlights. It was slow. Excruciatingly slow.

When we finally got back to Hayley and Sam, we sat Corey down and I took another look at his knee. It had scabbed over and was bruising. I touched it, gently, pretending to check it out, as I closed my eyes and concentrated on fixing it.

That was supposed to be one of my powers—healing. It worked with animals, but I didn’t know how it worked or if it would work on people at all. I tried anyway, focusing and brushing my fingertips over his knee, willing it to heal.

There was no way of telling whether it helped. With animals, it was never an instantaneous cure. They just seemed to get better strangely fast. I hoped for the same with Corey.

When I finished rewrapping Corey’s knee, Daniel said, “I know we’re all ready to drop. But if there’s any chance we can put a little more distance between us and them…”

“We should,” I finished.

Sam and Hayley struggled to their feet. I could tell they were exhausted, but they didn’t complain. Maybe they were beyond that.

Daniel put Corey’s arm over his shoulders and we set off again.