Any characters you recognize belong to Laurell K. Hamilton or the
members of this group. I’m just doing this for fun. It’s rated PG so far but
that may change.
Thanks to my magic mind of a beta. I appreciate it sooo much!
Friday afternoon Camden was at the shop by himself finishing up
the repair on an acoustic guitar. He heard the front door bell ring as the door
opened. He walked out to see who it was and found Chris' fiancé Cathy.
She was his favorite of all the girlfriends Chris had had. She was
5'4, had long brown hair and brown eyes. She taught 5th grade. Today
she was wearing a blue print dress that reached her knees.
He gave her a hug. “Chris is already gone.”
“It isn't Chris I'm looking for. I wanted to talk to you.”
He stepped back to look at her. “Sounds serious.”
“I don't want you to go to that club tonight.”
He sighed. “You been talking to Matt and Chris?”
She shook her head. “No. I've been having dreams, the same dream
three nights this week. You know how they
are.”
“Yeah. What's it about?” She hesitated, looking away. He pressed,
“Come on Cath. Don't freeze on me.”
“I see you lying in a pool of blood, your eyes open. It's like you
can't believe what has happened. Cam I'm scared for you to go.” She was close
to tears.
He put his arms around her, pulling her close. The tears came
then. They were close. Cathy could always come to him to vent about work or
family, especially the Daniels matriarch. He guided her to a chair and sat her
down. He knelt in front of her.
She pleaded with him. “Please don't go down there.”
“Okay Cath. I won't.”
“Promise me.”
He smiled. “I promise.” He stood and reached into his pocket
extracting the business card. He handed it to her. “You know I wouldn't lie to you.” She nodded and he asked, “You
okay to drive?”
“Yeah. Damn I hate when I have those dreams.”
“Me too.” He grinned. “Go home. Chris is probably worried.”
She stood and he walked her out to the jeep.
She turned back to him. “You promised.”
“I'm not going. I'll lock up and go home.” She smiled and got into
her Jeep. “Drive careful.”
She nodded, started the engine and pulled out of the drive. Camden
locked up the store and rode the Ninja home. He could always go down another
time, maybe with Trent.
Sitting at home later playing computer games, he wasn't surprised
when Cathy called to check on him. They talked for a few minutes then hung up.
Bored, he decided to just crash early. The store was usually busy on Saturdays,
so he could go in early and set up for the classes that Matt and Chris gave.
Then Sunday he was going to pack some gear and food and go up into the hills,
just spend the day away from everybody.
He woke early. It was only six. He went downstairs and loaded the
dirt bike up into the back of the Ranger. Then he went back up and showered. On
his way to the shop he stopped at Burger King for breakfast.
When he got to the shop he was surprised to find Matt there with
the police. He parked the truck, switching off the engine. Matt walked over as
Camden got out of the truck.
“What's going on?”
His oldest brother looked pissed. “Somebody broke into the shop.
Did you lock up last night?”
“Yeah. I always do.”
“They said the door wasn't jimmied. Somebody just walked in.”
“I locked the freakin' door Matt!”
“You're sure?”
“Yes! I locked the door!” A couple of the uniforms looked in their
direction. He lowered his voice before he asked his elder brother, “What'd they
take?”
“They didn't take anything that I can tell but they sure made a
mess. The claims adjuster is on the way.”
The insurance claims adjuster arrived about an hour before David
and Allison Daniels did. Camden was grilled not only by the claims adjuster but
the police and his parents as well. Finally he'd had enough. He got into the truck
and left.
He drove straight for the hills and the trails. He knew he had
locked the door. He pulled into the dirt parking lot. There were only two other
trucks in the lot. He backed up to the ramp, got out, and began to unload the
bike.
The break in was eating at him. No actually it was the accusations
that he had left the door unlocked. He kept a backpack behind the seat in the
extended section of the Ranger. It had in it, bottled water, a couple of candy
bars and some corn nuts. Also in the pack was a rolled up space blanket and a
hooded sweatshirt. He'd made up his mind on the drive that it would be a good
night to camp. He was angry and hurt. A night away would be good for all
concerned.
He got the bike unloaded and pulled the truck away from the ramp
so that others could use it. He slid the backpack over his shoulders and
buckled the straps before putting on his helmet and gloves. He walked back over
to the bike, straddled it, kicked into gear and started it up. He was off.
Back at the shop, they were still going over the place to see if
they had missed anything. Out by in the back of the house the adjuster and the
cops were looking for prints or anything out of the ordinary. One of the
uniforms called the adjuster over. There was some glass on the ground. They
looked up and found that one pane of the bathroom window was broken. One of the
cops went around front and came back with Matt, the owner’s dad and a
detective.
The elder Daniels man nodded. “That's why there were no jimmy
marks. They went in through the window and then closed it.”
The adjusted agreed. “Looks that way.”
Matt could have kicked himself. “Damn it. I blamed Cam for leaving
the door unlocked.”
The detective tried to reassure him. “We all did. Maybe forensics will come up with a print.”
“I hope so.” Matt’s dad agreed.
His eldest son wasn’t appeased though. “I better go find Cam.”
His dad shook his head. “Just let it go for now. We have a lot of
cleaning to do.”
It took all day and half the night to get the shop in order. The
window was boarded up just to be safe. Chris was on the phone. He hung up when
his father walked out of the back.
He asked his middle son, “Did you reach Camden?”
“Either he's not home. Or he's not answering. I'm gonna stop by
there.”
“I'm sure he's fine. Probably sulking.” His mother added.
“If it was me, I'd be breaking things.” Chris told her then walked
away.
His older brother looked up as he approached. “No word from Cam?”
“Nope.”
“His bike was in the truck.”
Chris nodded. “Then we know where he is. He's probably on his way
back.”
Actually Camden was bedding down for the night. He had pulled the
bike off the trail into the trees. He took one of the candy bars and a bottle
of water out of the pack for dinner. It was dark but the light of the bike was
good enough for a couple of minutes. He didn't want to run the battery down.
Walking a dirt bike over three miles of up and down trails was no fun.
Finishing his dinner, he went to relieve himself, then came back
put the hooded sweatshirt on and took out the space blanket. He pulled up the
hood of the sweatshirt, hung the helmet on the handlebars, then wrapped the
blanket around himself before turning off the bikes headlight and lying down
under a tree to sleep. He'd camped like this before. It was usually with a
group of friends but this was on the spur of the moment.
He lay there looking through the trees at the half moon. He
finally closed his eyes ten minutes later.
He woke shivering. The temperature had dropped overnight. He sat
up and stretched. There was dew covering the ground, himself and everything
else. Still, he knew as soon as the sun rose, it would get hot. He got up and
pulled off the sweatshirt, putting it and the space blanket back into the pack.
His stomach let him know that he hadn't eaten anything but a candy bar all
night.
Slipping the pack over his shoulders once again, he started up the
bike and headed back to the truck. His intentions were to grab a bite to eat,
go home and go to bed. That was until he got to the ramp and found his truck in
a shambles. The windows were smashed, the tires flat. The inside had been
ransacked but they hadn't taken the CD player or anything else for that matter.
Camden just stood there looking at the destruction.
A Dodge pick up pulled into the parking area pulling a trailer
with six bikes on it. He knew a couple of the guys in the truck. The driver
loaned Camden his cell phone to call the police.
Then he called Chris. The police and Chris showed up at almost the
same time.
Chris called a tow truck on his cell. He didn't think Camden was
in the mood to hear about the break in so he let it go.
Chris told Cam, “Mom and dad were worried about you.” His brother gave him a look. “I tried to
call your cell.”
Camden sighed. “I didn't bring it.”
The cop asked him, “You didn't hear or see anything?”
He shook his head. “Probably happened while I was sleeping. I was
over three miles away.”
The officer gave him a strange look. “You slept up here last
night?” Camden nodded so he asked, “Are you insane?”
The younger Daniels brother shrugged. “I've done it before.
Besides I was too pissed off to go home.”
Chris quietly told him. “Cam, they found where the burglars got
into the shop.”
He snorted. “Yeah, through the front door. That I locked.”
His brother nodded. “Yeah.
You did. They got in through a window.”
Camden stared at him. They'd all gone off on him, all but Chris.
He hadn't been there. Camden started to say something but the tow truck pulled
up.
The officer told the boys, “We'll have it towed to the impound
lot. Want to run some prints.”
Camden looked from the truck to him. “Not like I can drive it
anyway.” The cop nodded and walked over to the tow truck driver. Camden filled
out paperwork and signed it. “I gotta get my bike home.”
Chris told him, “I'll call Matt to bring his truck.”
“I'll ride it instead.”
“You'll get a ticket.” His brother warned.
Camden shrugged and got on the bike. “I don't care anymore,
Chris.” He put on his helmet, started the bike and was gone.
The officer turned to the remaining brother. “I could have him
stopped.”
“I know. It's been a lousy two days.” He got into his car and
left.
Camden managed to get the bike home without getting a ticket. He
was tired and angry. Why the hell would somebody want to mess his truck up like
that? He couldn't think of anyone he had upset except for maybe Trisha.
He showered, had something to eat and laid down. Images of the
shop and the truck ran through his mind. It must be aimed at him but he
couldn't figure out why.
At the Daniels home, David had just finished talking to Chris. His
son assured him that the youngest of the boys had gotten home safely but that
Camden was in no mood for talk or company.
The father decided that an hour or so in his workshop was needed
to get out some frustration.
The workshop was behind the house. It was about the size of a
one-car garage. He was a wood worker, carving things as delicate as a jewelry
box to bigger things, like totems. It was just for his enjoyment, although he
had several people who had asked for specific things.
He walked out the back door, across the yard and to his shop. When
he opened the door and switched on the light he was surprised to find he had a
guest, one he hadn't seen in well over fifteen years. The man hadn't aged a
bit. He was not as tall as David, just under six one. He looked to be in his
early twenties but that wasn't the case at all.
David greeted the man. “Zach! It's good to see you! It's been
awhile.” The other man nodded, as he closed the distance between them. They
embraced. “I was worried someone had... well you know.”
His visitor nodded. “I didn't want to put anyone in danger but now
I'm not so sure I haven't.” He turned, walked over to the workbench and leaned
against it.
“What do you mean? What's happened?”
“I think that Trisha is working with the others. She was supposed
to have no contact with him.”
“I know.” David ran a hand through his hair. “She gave Allison a
sob story about missing him and not wanting to give up the baby.”
“Trisha is not his mother. She has no ties to him. Other than
providing a womb.”
David looked at Zach. “Who is his mother?”
“That doesn't matter at the moment. What does is his safety.
Taylor is here. His band is playing in the District.”
The older looking man nodded. “He's been warned not to go down
there. Someone told you about the break in and the damage to his truck.”
“Yes. I have a friend watching over him. One I trust.”
“Zach, I think it's time for the two of you to meet.”
His guest shook his head. “And what will I tell him? Where should
I say I've been all of these years?”
“I don't really think it would matter to him. If Trisha is working
with the others, he needs you now even more.”
“You're a good father for him David. Better than I could have
been.”
The taller man shook his head. “That's not true. Let me take you
to him.”
“I think you should ask if he wants to see me first. If he does,
we can arrange it.”
“Are you in danger?”
“You worry too much. Besides, I have allies here.” David nodded as
Zach told him, “Let me give you my cell number.” He reached into his jeans
pocket and pulled out his wallet. From that he extracted a business card. “I
always have my cell.” He handed the card to David. “If he doesn't want to see
me… I'll still watch over him.”
“He'll want to see you even if it's just to punch you in the
nose.”
Both men laughed then Zach told him, “I'd better get going.”
David nodded. “Stay safe Zach.” They embraced.
“Thanks.” The younger looking man told the elder Daniels.
With a shimmer he disappeared. David was left holding the card and
hoping that Camden wouldn't say no. 'A boy should know his father', he thought.
He put the business card into his wallet and went about his work.