Shaman - the Awakening (10 page)

Jay finally gained consciousness while handcuffed in the back seat of the Sheriff's SUV. We had the working girls dress Jay while he was unconscious. They probably assisted him in getting his clothes off, so why not place them back on him? Sheriff Hughes followed us back to the Farmington Satellite Office where we would question Mr. Horse. The Sheriff had been a great help in the apprehension of Jay, and I was going to make sure his supervisors knew of this.

“If you folks need any further assistance, here's my card,” Sheriff Hughes stated. He was really making a play for Nina. He wanted to make sure she had his phone number. He just gave his card to me and Dianna out of courtesy. Then he turned and looked at Nina again, smiling, and said, “I mean anything at all, just give me a call.” Nina smiled and looked at us, blushing and waved the business card. It was clear she liked Sheriff Hughes also.

“Get a room already,” I replied, making Dianna and Nina laughed. We all agreed that the sheriff had been a valuable team member. I would inquire from Steve in the morning if we could make him a temporary member of our team for this case. Next on the agenda was to interrogate Jay. We didn't know what, if anything, he knew that could contribute to this case, but scum usually sticks together, like the residue left in the tub.

It was already early in the morning of the next day, January 31st. We couldn't afford to worry about the time or sleep because the clock was ticking. Dianna was an expert interrogator. We always said she could pry water from a stone, so we let her do her thing with him. He began breaking down after about two hours.

“You people think you can just come here and do what you want? We've been here since the Long Walk and we're going to remain here long after you're gone,” Jay stated.

“Well, they might be here, but you're not going to be. You see, that little ambush of yours killed an FBI agent. He was pronounced dead this morning, which means you're an accomplice to the murder of a Federal Agent. You will be sent to a Federal Penitentiary, not some Res jail, for the rest of your life. You might even be executed. I'm uncertain if they have the death penalty here in New Mexico,” Dianna stated.

“You can't pin that on me, I wasn't even there,” he sneered.

“Yes we can. You knowingly led us to that ambush to murder us. We have you on murder in the first and five counts of attempted murder,” Dianna retorted.

She had made it all up in order to get some information, and her strategy worked.

For just a moment, Jay stared. His copper skin paled to the color of a rattler's underbelly. His chiseled lips turned downward, and was that a hint of a quiver? It was gone before I was sure what I had seen. He lifted a Styrofoam cup to his lips, attempting to cover his fear with a nonchalant sip, but the coffee in his cup wavered in his less-than steady hands. Defeated, he slammed the cup on the table, splashing its contents all over the wood and burst out. “You're looking in the wrong place. I heard some Hopis talking about death dealers coming back to right the wrongs of the white man. You should be looking at the Hopis,” he insisted.

The Hopi Nation was within the center of the Navajo Nation. They were left alone by the Navajo because they feared the Hopis as great medicine men and guardians of the underworld. The Hopis weren't even on our radar. They were a part of the Pueblo Indian tribes and were considered a placid group. We didn't know if Jay was blowing smoke up our asses or what. He was already proving to be a great deceiver. We said our goodbyes to January the 30
^th
and still weren't close to catching the serial killer.

When I woke the next morning I had received all the information I needed to know, through dreamscape, that Jay wasn't involved in these murders. He was a sexual deviant and a petty criminal, but not a serial murderer. The rest didn't really matter at this point since it didn't pertain to the investigation, and he was already in custody. Everyone had been called back to Albuquerque for an all hands mandatory meeting by the A.D. As usual, Steve didn't go into details. We left Jay Horse at the Residence Office in Farmington for questioning by the ATF and hit the road early that morning.

We knew the information given by Jay was 50/50 and whatever the A.D. had to say wouldn't be anything favorable for us, so we weren't in any rush. The A.D. probably received information by now of our questioning of Jay Horse at the Residence Office, or the Council made some calls in reference to our last meeting. I drove on the way back down to Albuquerque. I let the girls get a couple more hours of shut eye on the highway. I could function on four hours or less sleep by now; my body had gotten used to it.

Everyone was tight-lipped at the meeting, and curious to know why the A.D. called us back. It was the proverbial elephant in the room. We were all working diligently in the field and researching, but the clock had reset and was ticking down to another abductee. What would happen after the countdown expired for the last victim? Would he retire never to be seen again? Would this become a cold case?

“It will be February 1
^st
tomorrow, this killer threatens to strike again, and we still have nothing. We have all the best resources afforded to us and the assistance of several agencies, but we can't find one person. We can raid drug labs, brothels and make unwarranted threats, but we still have no results. We will be initiating road blocks and check points again. The standing curfew has been extended to start an hour early. Unless someone can offer me something outside of a crystal ball, we will have another murder on our hands,” the A.D. stated. The A.D. was now feeling the pressure that we were used to working under. He was a bureaucrat and hadn't been investigating in the field in a long time, but his idle threats wouldn't make this situation any better.

“This is bullshit,” Max stated after the meeting. He always had a habit of expressing what everyone was feeling. We left the meeting angry and wondering why he had wasted our time. As if we didn't know everything he'd spewed. We knew we were on a clock and that the time was ticking down. He just wanted to assert his authority more and act as if his insulting talks would make us do our jobs better. Everyone was out there, giving their all. We even had people sidelined for gunshot wounds.

Things went from bad to worse when the A.D. called our team in for a private pow-wow, with Steve present. Once again, he belittled our efforts pertaining to the investigation, but this time he sidelined us. He reassigned us to Homeland Security to assist with coordination, where he could keep an eye on us. It wasn't like anyone else was doing any better than us, but he disapproved of our methods; min in particular. This was no surprise as he'd let me know of his dislike for me on more than one occasion.

Then the unthinkable happened on February 1 at 0200 hours. Dianna's telephone rang and her face went blank as she listened in silence. I could tell that there was something wrong by her look. She continued to listen, and then responded, “We'll be right there.”

“What's wrong?” I inquired as I looked at her with anticipation and concern. She seemed lifeless, then composed herself and briefed me on the situation.

“It was Steve; Gracie is missing. She left the office around 2100 hours yesterday and no one has been able to get in touch with her. She was supposed to meet Steve at the hotel, but didn't show up,” she said solemnly.

“Yeah, I saw her leave. She was exhausted from pulling such long hours with Steve and Max,” I replied. We paused for a very long time and then I broke the silence. “I'll drive; let's get going,”

Could this be the work of the serial killer? He wasn't supposed to attack until tonight; February 1 or the morning of February 2. What made him go early, if it was him? He had been so meticulous in the past with his countdown. At this juncture I was only hoping that it was all just a mistake.

We arrived at the RO around 0300 hours. The office was already packed. An FBI agent was missing in action, and the always stoic Steve was a wreck. It seemed the subject escalated as we had anticipated, after leaving the letter for us. He sent a clear message this time that he wasn't afraid of us, and that we could do nothing to stop him. The A.D. began the meeting, as he had taken over now. I drowned him out and judging by the look of every agent in that room, they did as well. It was personal now, more than ever. There was nothing this degrading A.D. had to say that we were interested in hearing. He had lost the respect of everyone in room.

We forged on in the investigation. There were no other victims taken on the night of February 1 thru the morning of February 2. That pretty much confirmed that Gracie was the intended victim. Our timeline for the abductions had been leaked or figured out by the Media News, which wasn't a hard thing to do. They were camped outside the RO. They didn't have any information on Gracie's abduction, but they have plenty of questions concerning the night of the 1
^st
and early morning of the 2
^nd
.

Their main questions were: has there been another abduction, and how close were we in catching the serial killer? They had a right to know; after all, we were public servants, but the FBI decided to keep this one closed to the media. It didn't involve a civilian; so we could keep the information as sensitive and because it pertained to an ongoing case. The A.D. explained all this in his press conference that afternoon.

Steve circumvented A.D. Pollin's orders and took my team off the bench. If Gracie had any chance of surviving this, it would be with me riding in the front seat. The A.D. was receiving too much heat to notice that we weren't in the office. He wanted the recognition and the limelight, and now it was time for the A.D. to feel what came with it; the stress, the pressure and the heat.

Dianna, Nina and I went to Gracie's apartment, where we conducted my dreamscape preliminaries as usual. Gracie's apartment was immaculate, she didn't spend a lot of time there. She was always working, like the rest of us. The bedroom wasn't as neat as the rest of the house. The bed wasn't made and there were clothes out, as if she'd been in a rush to leave and couldn't decide what to wear. Perhaps it was just clothes from the night before? I guess this was why Steve didn't want to come over with us. They probably spent nights together between here and the hotel.

There weren't a lot of people who knew of their relationship. They pretty much kept it a secret. There weren't a lot of framed pictures around, but she did have a photo album that I sat down on the sofa and perused. I grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and attempted to mimic what she would do while at home. I turned on the television, but kept it mute and turned on the stereo. She had some nice jazz singers, to include Diana Krall, Norah Jones and Nina Simone. I put on the latest Norah Jones CD. Then I proceeded to water her plants, which were neglected due to the long hours we had been working.

While I was doing all this, Dianna was looking for clues around the apartment and Nina just followed me around and observed my every move. It was her first time witnessing this. I would look at her from time to time and catch her gaze as she smiled at me in return. She didn't say anything, but had the look of approval for what I was doing. I treated Gracie's personal items like I was caring for her in person. When I completed my preliminary connection they took me back to the hotel, so I could conduct a dreamscape on Gracie. This was something I would have never conceived of doing; not in my wildest dreams.

After I prepped myself, Dianna gave Steve a call and informed him that I was about to go under. Nina asked if she could remain in the room when I went into dreamscape. It was usually a private affair that I only shared consciously with my doctors, until Dianna. I conferred with Dianna and we both agreed that it would be alright, since Nina had shared a dreamscape experience with us and was our partner.

I changed into a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt; I was usually very active during my dreams. I grabbed my headphones and took two sleeping pills. I wanted to spend as much time as possible finding clues to assist the team in finding Gracie, no matter how messed up the pills made me. I lay down on the bed. “Now girls,” I urged with mock severity, “promise you won't take advantage of me while I'm sleeping.”

They both giggled, the inappropriate joking helping to break the terrible tension we all felt.

They had an iPad ready to record and a notepad for taking notes. I'd never felt so safe before going into dreamscape, as I was always concerned with the horrors that I might find. It'd never been this personal for me. I was sure I would make a connection. Thus far, the killer had kept the victims alive for about 16 days.

I woke up groggy with a headache, several hours after the dreamscape. That was the only problem with gathering the information. I was usually under for valuable time, but Steve always comforted me by saying that it was time worth spending in capturing the subject. Up until this case it always held true. Dianna had the bottled water waiting for me like an old pro and Nina was her apprentice, learning as she observed.

They were doing their best to be patient with me as they waited for me to brief them on what I'd discovered. They were observing my every move, from me unscrewing the cap off the water bottle to me putting it up to my lips and drinking. I didn't mean to prolong their anticipation or keep them in suspense, but I was parched and feeling a little dehydrated from sweating in the dream. Then I explained to them what I had observed.

“She was abducted at the liquor store parking area. She went inside to purchase a bottle of wine. The name of the liquor store is Kelly Liquors, at 6300 San Mateo Blvd. N.E., Albuquerque. Her car is still there also. She remembered how dark it was in the parking lot area and how she should have been more vigilant. She couldn't see the moon or a star in the sky, it was so dark. She did hear the howl of a coyote in the background, but it was too late once she recognized the sound. The perpetrator moved in quickly and grabbed her from behind, like the others, before she could enter her vehicle.”

“Gracie was unconscious during the trip and woke up terrified on the dirt floor of the pitch black area she was being held, just like the rest of the women. She was already thinking that she was going to die because she heard this all before. She was bound like the rest, with plastic straps on her wrists and around her ankles. She had a gag in her mouth and a blindfold covering her eyes. He doesn't want her to see, like he didn't want the rest of them to see. His whole persona is built around being in the shadows. She is still fully clothed right now. She also experienced what Jessica did in reference to the changing temperatures while on the dirt floor. He hasn't approached her again since the abduction,” I said in a very low and melancholy voice.

“Wow, that is amazing!” Nina stated in excitement. This was her first time experiencing what I could do. We understood her excitement, but it wasn't reciprocated. Dianna wanted to hear the information as Nina, but was subdued as I was about the demise of Gracie. After her initial stupefaction, Nina came back down to our reality and was cognizant of the solemn mood in the room. She felt embarrassed, so I quickly moved on.

“Did you get anything from the session?” I inquired from the both of them.

“Yes, we received a lot, but it was once again her thoughts of fear and despair. She mentioned you and Steve. She hopes the both of you can find her. She also left a message to her parents because she knew you would enter her dreams. She asked if we could give it to them and stated that she would try to help you in any way possible.”

Then Nina inquired, “Why can't you give us any insight on the subject?”

“I can only enter the dreams and experiences of a person I have a connection with. If she could see a face, I could give a description, but I still wouldn't be able to enter into his dreams. I need a personal connection to do so.”

“You mean like a totem,” Nina asked.

“Exactly,” I replied. Nina was more knowledgeable about dreamscaping or vision quest, as the Native Americans call it, than I had realized.

“Can you take me with you, like when you pulled me into your dream the other night” she asked next.

“I've never attempted it while conducting investigations, because I need to concentrate all my focus on reading the dreams of the victim and making a connection with them,” I explained.

“But it could be possible?” she inquired.

“Anything is possible, but there is something that I didn't divulge about that experience with the both of you.”

“What is that,” she asked as they both looked on with curious eyes.

“Well I didn't want to get into something so personal at the time, but to bring you in as I did without any prior experiences with you, it had to be a strong connection between us that night. I was as surprised as the both of you. Remember my reaction afterwards, Dianna?”

“Yes, I do. Vividly. You started freaking out.”

“I began freaking out because I was surprised by what had occurred.”

“So what are you saying,” Dianna inquired?

“I know what he's saying,” Nina interjected, “I was dreaming about him as well.”

“This just became awkward,” Dianna stated.

“We were all drunk, and I was just as horny as the two of you,” Nina stated, attempting to deflect any further embarrassment. “So there's no way to recreate that?” She inquired.

“It was a first for me,” I replied. “I'm not as close to Gracie as I am with the two of you. We were spending a lot of time both working and having fun together.”

“Can we try it anyway?” Nina asked.

“Sure, but have to be later,” I insisted. “I can't take another pill right now, and we have to brief Steve and the rest of the RO.”