Chapter 28
My heart stopped. If I weren't a healer, I would've died at that very moment. I was sure of that. My hands became numb and the room started a slow motion spinning effect. I could hear their voices around me but nothing they were saying made any sense. I stumbled backward and found Ms. Peters' desk for stability.
They took Anna. My Anna . . . Anna . . . She must be so scared . . . Wait a second! Anna's a miracle worker? Why didn't she tell me? What the hell was going on? My Anna. My Anna was gone . . . Anna.
“Jake, are you okay?” Nick had a firm grasp on my shoulders and was shaking me.
“He's trying to process everything,” Claudia filled them in. “He's borderline losing it though.”
“Get him a drink of water and sit him down. Rachel will be back here with Noah in a minute and we have to put our heads together to come up with a plan,” Ms. Peters directed.
I felt Nick and Claudia move me to Ms. Peters' big leather chair. As comfortable as it once looked, it was now a cold rock.
I had to find Anna. My Anna. I had to find this group of monsters and kill every one of them. I imagined what I would do to them once I got my hands on them. They were going to pay miserably for taking her, and if they laid one hand on her, all hell would break loose. Literally. I was sure of it. My hands and forearms burned with rage.
The door opened and I heard Noah's voice. “What the hell happened in here?”
“It's Jake,” Ms. Peters said. “Claudia said he's planning his revenge on Ryan and the others. This is what he is capable of. Lock the door behind you, Rachel.”
The numbness in my hands subsided. The room slowed to a steady rocking as my eyes darted around the room.
When my gaze finally landed on Ms. Peters, she gave me a sympathetic look and handed me a glass of water. I took the water and downed it. My mouth was still dry. Claudia was kneeling beside me and holding my hand, the pain in her eyes matching mine. Nick, Noah and Rachel all looked amazed. What was going on?
Then I noticed the overturned chairs, the papers strewn about over the room, the bookcase and all its books on the floor, and Ms. Peters’ desk leaning on its side up against the windows. It looked like a tornado had torn a path through the room, entering through an open door as it came, and closing the window behind itself when it left.
“What happened?” I asked as I cautiously stood up.
“This,” Ms. Peters said with a hand movement around the room, “is what you are capable of when you lose your mind.”
I was shocked. Disturbed too, but mostly shocked. “I did this?”
“You sure did,” Nick grinned.
“Okay, whatever. Sorry.” I brushed it off with annoyance. “I need some answers.”
“I know you do, but we need to be fast. There isn't much time,” Ms. Peters said as she helped the others move her furniture back into place.
Rachel began, “Anna is gifted with Miracles. She doesn't know it yet, but she is.”
“But you knew it?” I asked.
“Yes, Mom and I knew. I saw her when I had the vision of you.” Rachel sounded apologetic in her explanation. “I didn’t know it was her at first. I thought it might have been Noah, but as time went on, I realized it.”
“Then why didn't you bring her in like us?” I demanded, staring her down.
“We thought we were protecting her by keeping her identity a secret. We figured she would be safer once exposed if our gifts were developed first so we could protect her better.” Rachel lowered her head.
“That worked well,” I growled.
“Only because they read my mind yesterday. I didn’t know they could read minds,” she whimpered.
“You’re sure she's gifted? I mean, could you be wrong about this?”
“Anna was the reason Monica and Lexie are alive right now. Remember when we were on our way back to the resort and Anna was meditating?”
I searched my memory and recalled Anna praying beside me in the back seat. “Yeah?”
“She was the reason Monica was able to move the Pepsi machine and the reason the shooter slipped when he was about to shoot Lexie in the head. Those things can only be caused by a miracle worker. She is definitely gifted.”
Anger swept through me like a violent storm. Rachel never told me this before. She should have.
I immediately remembered Matthias and the story of his family. What if this was an attack on me? What if they only kidnapped her to weaken my defences? They saw us together in the hall. My heart began quickening again. What if this was all my fault?
“Sorry to interrupt, but we need to discuss the game plan.” Ms. Peters said. “Now, Rachel wasn’t clear about what her vision was showing her. She thinks they might be heading to the airport. The problem is, Ryan likely knows of Claudia’s mindreading ability, which means he wouldn’t have decided which route he was going to take until after the kidnapping, in case he ran into Claudia. He likely has a few options, and will be making the decision as we speak—”
“Wait! Hold on a sec! Why would they want to take her out of here? Maybe they’re just planning on holding her hostage. Using her as collateral for something,” I said.
“No doubt they want her for collateral, but they won’t do it on our turf. They’ll take her somewhere else far from here first.” Ms. Peters turned back to the others. “I think the airport is the most likely and fastest escape. We’ll take two vehicles. Rachel, Noah and I are going to drive in my Jeep and head straight to the airport. Claudia and Nick, I want you to drive around town first and try to feel for vibes. Maybe they are hiding out somewhere first. If you can’t find anything, then meet us at the airport. Call me on my cell if you see or notice anything unusual. Let's go.”
Ms. Peters grabbed her coat and headed for the door with the others. I stopped her and said, “And what about me? Who should I go with? Take my own car?”
She laid a comforting hand on my shoulder and said with sympathetic eyes, “I'm sorry, Jake. I need you to stay here. You're not in the right frame of mind for this. We need to be inconspicuous so we don't blow our cover. You are better off staying put. I'll call when we have anything to share.” Then she rushed out the door, leaving me alone in the cold, empty room.
The airport. They’re on their way to the airport. But if it’s true that Anna is gifted, then she could alter that path. If they were discussing where to take her after they kidnapped her, then she could possibly have a lot to do with that decision by just praying about it. Knowing her, she would be planning to defend herself somehow. Escape, if she got the chance. She would need a location where she could use what she knows to help her somehow.
Then the question would be—what options would they be discussing in front of her?
Air? Anna wouldn’t have a hope of escaping once they were thirty thousand feet in the air. She would know that. I felt strongly that she wouldn’t be hoping for the airport.
Land? Without causing an accident, how would she escape a moving vehicle? Plus, she gets car sick.
Water? That was it! She loved the water, and if they travelled by boat, she would have an advantage of being able to swim long distances. She knew that about herself, and she prided herself on how fast and long she could swim. I was willing to bet that if escaping by boat was an option, she would be praying they would take that option. She would see it as a challenge—and it was a life or death situation, so she had good reason.
I ran out of the school without looking back and headed straight to my car. The tires peeled on the pavement as I sped out of the parking lot toward the downtown waterfront. The challenge would be finding the boat, and of course, hoping I was right about the whole plan.
I called Noah’s cell. “Noah!” I shouted when he answered. “I’m heading to the waterfront. I have a feeling they’re going by boat.”
“By boat? What the hell, Jake?”
“Hear me out—if they didn’t decide how they were getting Anna out of here until after they had her, then she would have be
en able to sway their plans—even if she doesn’t realize it. They would’ve had to have a few escape options set up, and if water was an option, I know she would’ve wished for that.”
“Okay?” Noah didn’t sound as convinced.
“You guys should still check the airport in case I’m wrong, but that’s where I’m heading.”
“To the waterfront. Okay, let us know if you find anything. Good luck, man.”
“You too.”
The waterfront was lined with a dozen or more wharfs that each held four or more varying kinds of boats—fishing boats, yachts, speedboats, and even sea-doos.
I knew they would’ve had at least twenty minutes on me, but weren’t far enough ahead to be out of the harbour just yet. I scanned the waters and spotted a good-sized yacht heading toward the mouth of the harbour . . . into the vast, freezing cold ocean. Anna would never survive a swim from that far out. Maybe that isn’t their yacht, I thought as I squinted to see if there was any sign of Anna on board. The words “Ray of Sunshine” were sprawled across the stern of the boat. Ray of Sunshine. Ray. Rachel. I wondered if there was a connection.
I dialed Noah’s cell.
“Jake,” he answered.
“I found a yacht that I think might belong to Ryan. Can you ask Rachel if the name ‘Ray of Sunshine’ means anything to her?”
“Ray of sunshine?” Noah repeated.
Then I heard Rachel gasp. “Why did you say that?” she demanded of Noah.
“Jake asked if that would mean anything to you. He thinks he found the boat that belongs to Ryan.”
“That was his nickname for me,” I heard her confirm.
“I gotta go,” I said as I started to run toward a nearby dock where two guys sat on their sea-doos.
“Jake, wait! No!” I heard Noah, Rachel and Ms. Peters all shout.
“Jake,” Ms. Peters took over. “You need back up. We will be there as soon as we can; we’re turning around now. If they see you, they won’t hesitate to kill you. They don’t want to harm her, Jake. She is safe until we get there. Please wait for us.”
“Can’t promise you anything. You might want to hurry up.” I hung up the phone as I approached a guy sitting on his sea-doo. “How much for a ride out to that yacht?”
“Cut the engine,” I shouted to my driver as we approached the yacht. I carefully balanced myself as I stood on the seat, my eyes on the railing that circled the upper deck.
“What are you doing?” my driver asked. “There’s a ladder on the back if you want me to take you over there. It’s way easier, dude.”
“They’ll be expecting that,” I mumbled back, not sure if he could even hear. “Hold on.” I leaped off the sea-doo and managed to grab hold of the railing.
“Good luck, man.” my driver sped off leaving me dangling from the side of the yacht. No doubt he thought it was odd, but he had his hundred dollars and was happy to fulfill my request.
I pulled myself onto the bow of the boat and carefully hid myself from the driver who was perched above the inside cabin area. When he wasn’t looking in my direction, I flung myself onto the top and slid one arm around his neck and the other around his mouth. I squeezed gently until he fell asleep and I laid him down at my feet. Then I figured out how to cut the engines and stopped the boat from moving forward. Now we were resting safely in the middle of the harbour.
A voice came over the driver’s radio. “Devon, why’d we stop?”
I hovered on the deck above the cabin door and waited for someone to come out and investigate.
“Devon?” the voice called again. “Devon!”
The door still didn’t open. And then the voice came across the radio again. He chuckled and then said, “I’ve been expecting you.”