“Sure are,” Igoshi said.
“But the bed and breakfast is apparently my idea and fishing is more…”Mrs. Peterson stopped herself. “Well, what do you know? You were right. I see his truck driving up.”
Anna smiled to herself. Igoshi finished her pancake. Anna heard Mr. Peterson park the car in the driveway, then walk across the driveway, open the mailbox, and empty it. She followed his sounds as he approached the house and soon after stood in the kitchen doorway.
“Roy!” Mrs. Peterson exclaimed. “What did I tell you about those dirty boots and bringing them inside?”
“Sorry,” he grumbled. “But there was a letter for our guests.”
“For us?” Igoshi said.
Anna heard the letter exchange hands, then the ripping of the paper, and rustling of yet more paper. She listened carefully as the rhythm of Igoshi’s heartbeat rapidly increased till she could hardly recognize her song anymore.
“Oh, my good Lord,” Igoshi said.
“What is it, Grandma?”
She was struggling to speak, gasping for air, fighting to stay calm while her heart was racing away as she did. “It’s a letter…from…” she exhaled deeply. “Someone who claims to have Lucas.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“He’s been kidnapped?”
“I…I guess so.”
“What do they want?”
“They…they want to do an exchange.”
“They want money?” Mrs. Peterson asked. She had followed their search for Lucas with great worry and interest and Igoshi had talked to her a lot about it, so she knew every detail. “Oh, God. Don’t give it to them. They’ll just ask for more. It’ll never end. I’ve heard all kinds of stories about people who were ruined because of this type of thing.”
Mr. Peterson chimed in. “How do we even know they really have him? They could have heard about it, maybe on TV, and then decided to take you for some money. You need proof that they really have him. How much do they want?”
“They don’t say anything about money. It just says exchange,” Igoshi said.
An eyebrow went up, Anna couldn’t distinguish if it was Mr. or Mrs. Peterson’s since they were standing very close to one another.
“So, they didn’t ask for money?”
Anna could hear Igoshi shaking her head. She was struggling to keep the tears away. Anna could hear the water rush up in the tear ducts, where they piled up. They were going to spill over any second now.
“An exchange? What do they want to exchange?” Anna asked.
“It doesn’t say,” Igoshi said. “It just says where and when to meet them.”
CHAPTER 86
BUSHLAKE, NOVEMBER 2016
T hey were quiet in the truck and had been most of the way. Anna felt so nervous and like such a grand failure. She couldn’t believe that they were about to go meet with Lucas’s assumed kidnappers. All this had come from her deciding to leave the car? It felt devastating. She couldn’t stop thinking about Lucas. He had to be scared to death.
On the radio, they announced—as they had done every day for over a week now—that the police were searching for an albino man, Robert Bloom, and that he was considered extremely dangerous and shouldn’t be approached. He was wanted for several murders nineteen years ago and the recent murder of a police officer.
Anna couldn’t believe he had managed to escape. That was the one good thing she had believed had come of it all. They had gotten Gubba. He was arrested and put away. But not even that had been a success.
Maybe I should simply stop trying. Maybe I shouldn’t try to do anything. All I seem to do is cause more trouble.
But she was happy to know that Gubba had died in the other world. That meant he couldn’t hurt Stephanie or Mandy or anyone else back there, if they were still alive. That was what it meant, wasn’t it? She wasn’t completely sure.
“We’re almost there,” Igoshi said.
They had decided to keep the police out of it. Both Mr. and Mrs. Peterson had told them to call the police right away, but Igoshi had said she didn’t dare to. It said in the letter to come alone, no police. She only dared to do what they wanted.
“Anything to get my boy back,” she had said.
Anna agreed. Whatever it took. Whatever.
“Who do you think they are?” Anna asked, as Igoshi took a turn and told her it was the exit leading to Ft. Lauderdale.
“I don’t know,” Igoshi said.
Her heartbeat was fast. Not as intense as the day before when she read that letter, but still quicker, almost sharper than usual. And as they approached the town, it intensified. Igoshi tried diligently to stay calm, to remain peaceful on the outside, but Anna knew the truth. Igoshi was a mess on the inside. It was the bad side of being able to hear people’s heart rhythms. They couldn’t hide their emotions from you. You knew how they really felt and sometimes, just sometimes, you really needed to think they were calm and collected. There was a reason for her façade right now. It was meant for Anna so that she wouldn’t freak out.
“Why do you think they want to meet at the casino?”
Anna had found the place to be a very strange location. A hotel room at the Seminole Casino on the reservation. The place was so odd, Anna couldn’t help but wonder if these people knew them. Up until she had heard the location, she had believed it had been coincidental. Someone seeing a lonely boy in a truck, then believing they could get money out of them. But they hadn’t asked for money, at least not yet. And this place was a little too strange to be a coincidence. These people wanted something else from them and she feared it was worse than money.
They had gotten proof of life. In the letter, there had been a phone number and when they called it, Lucas had been on the other end. He was crying, telling them he was scared and wanted to go home.
That was proof enough.
Someone else had been on the line too. Right when the phone was removed from Lucas and before it was hung up, Anna had heard breathing and detected a heartbeat, even though the person had never said a word. And there was one thing she knew for sure. It wasn’t Gubba’s heartbeat. His heartbeat was the first she ever heard after he blinded her, so she knew his very well and could distinguish it clearly from others. She knew it wasn’t him.
But then who? Who would do such a terrible thing?
They were about to find out.
“I’m driving up in front of the casino now,” Igoshi said as the car came to a halt. Anna took in a couple of deep breaths. She was scared. No, she was terrified. But she would do anything for this boy. Anything.
“The letter clearly said we should both be there,” Igoshi said. “Just the two of us. No one else.” She sighed. Anna felt her hand in hers. They were both thinking the same thing. Why did they need Anna to be there?
Igoshi’s heartbeat was bouncing all over the place.
“You ready?” Anna asked.
Igoshi nodded. Anna could hear her earrings dangle. “Are you?”
Anna nodded, even though she wasn’t. How could anyone ever be ready for something like this?
CHAPTER 87
FORT LAUDERDALE, NOVEMBER 2016
G ubba was drinking a beer while enjoying his freedom. He was lying on the couch, while E.T. was walking up and down the carpet of the hotel room, smoke seeping from the cigarette that seemed to be stuck in the corner of her mouth these days.
It was a nice place she had picked. Gubba liked it. Had that luxury feel to it, even though it was one of the cheaper suites at the casino. The boy was sitting in the recliner, watching some stupid show on the TV. He didn’t seem to be really watching it, though. He was crying, sobbing helplessly, and had been ever since he talked quickly on the phone with his grandmother and sister the day before.
“What do you do if they don’t come?” Gubba said and looked at E.T. He liked to tease her. She seemed anxious, walking back and forth like that. What was the big deal anyway?
She d
idn’t answer.
“Why is that boy so important?” Gubba asked.
E.T. hadn’t seemed happy when Gubba had found her. She was hiding in the swamps with the boy. They were in the same place where Gubba had been hiding for years and years, the old homestead deep in the Green Swamps. He had known where to look for her. Knew the place like the back of his hand. And he knew E.T. It wasn’t that hard to figure out.
When he was at the police station, he had heard about the missing boy. He knew immediately that E.T. had to have something to do with it. So he went into the swamps and found her in that place that no one knew of. He thought she would be pleased to see him, but she wasn’t. On the contrary. She seemed more like she was annoyed with him suddenly appearing and it made him angry. After all these years, why wasn’t she happy that he had escaped? Why did she seem like she didn’t want him involved in anything anymore?
Now, he was curious, that was why he was staying with her (that and because E.T. was the one who had money, Gubba never earned anything in his life and couldn’t get a job even if he tried. He had no skills and no experience and was wanted by the police everywhere). He wanted to know what her plan was, but somehow it seemed like she didn’t want to share it with him. He was beginning to wonder if she had actually hoped he wouldn’t escape from the police.
“Shush, boy,” E.T. said.
He hated it when she called him that.
“I mean, I know he’s the sister of the girl I blinded…” Gubba paused, then looked at E.T. “You think he can take you back somehow, don’t you? But how? He’s no traveler, is he? And why this setup?”
“Just leave it,” E.T. said. “I told you to shut up and do as I said if you want to hang here with me.”
Gubba knew she wanted him there. For protection in case things turned bad. E.T. was a small scrawny woman, who was a lot stronger than she appeared to be, but still. She wasn’t strong like Gubba.
But if he was going to be a bodyguard, then didn’t he at least deserve to know why?
Apparently not.
There was a knock on the door. E.T. looked at him, a smile growing from the side of her mouth. She pulled out the cigarette and blew out smoke. Tilting her head, reaching out her arms, a grin on her wrinkled face, sounding a lot like Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice, she said:
“It’s show time.”
CHAPTER 88
HOLLYWOOD RESERVATION, NOVEMBER 2016
T hey were waiting on the other side of the door. Anna’s heart was racing in her chest. She was trying to stay calm, but it was hard. What was waiting behind the thick hotel door? Who was?
Igoshi let go of Anna, lifted her hand, and knocked. Anna held her breath as she detected someone on the other side. A heartbeat, a song. It wasn’t a pretty one; it was irregular and unmelodic. As the knock faded, the heart rhythm became clearer and faster. Whoever was on the other side was approaching the door, but was also nervous. Just like they were.
She knew this heartbeat. She recognized it as the one she had heard on the phone after talking to Lucas. But it wasn’t the only one. Anna detected Lucas’s heartbeat in there too and breathed a sigh of relief. No sweeter sound could she hear in this moment. He was in there, and he was very much alive.
“He’s there,” she said with a whisper. “He’s in there.”
Igoshi sighed, relieved, but her heart was still anxious. Anna couldn’t blame her. Footsteps approached on the other side, small fast ones. Whoever was behind there was not very tall, nor was he or she heavy.
“Wait,” Anna said. “There’s someone else there.” She gasped and felt her own heart rush.
“What’s the matter?” Igoshi said, as the hand landed on the handle on the other side and the door was unlocked.
“It’s him,” Anna hurried to say. “He’s in there.”
Igoshi didn’t get to react to what Anna had said before the door swung open and a small strange woman’s face appeared. Anna heard Igoshi gasp for air and her heart rhythm turned strangely irregular.
“You!?”
“What is it? Who is it?” Anna asked.
“Let’s not get dramatic,” the woman with the irregular heartbeat said. “We have business to attend to. Come inside. Come.”
Igoshi guided Anna in through the door. The sound of Lucas’s heartbeat came closer and Anna knew he couldn’t be far away.
Anna heard small footsteps across the carpet, his fast heartbeat, then his voice that yelled.
“Grandma! Anna!”
He threw himself at her legs. Tears sprung to her eyes and she hugged him. She ran her fingers through his thick hair, then touched his face, running her finger across it, as if she had any doubt it was really him. She didn’t. But she wanted to feel him, to feel if his face had changed. It hadn’t.
“Lucas,” she whispered in a sigh.
Igoshi cried. “My poor boy.”
The door was slammed shut behind them and locked. Anna sensed his presence. He wasn’t far from her, probably thinking she didn’t know he was there. He approached her, his heartbeat rushing like he was excited, which he probably was, thinking he could sneak up on her without her knowing it. But she did. She knew he was coming and, as he came close enough, she stepped aside and turned so she stood face to face with him.
“Gubba, back off,” the small woman with the irregular heartbeat said.
“What are you doing here, Ethel?” Igoshi said. “Why have you kidnapped my boy?”
“Oh, he’s your boy now, is he?” Ethel said.
“Yes. Yes, he is. Ever since his parents died, he has been mine to take care of. Still is. Now tell me, why have you brought us here?”
CHAPTER 89
HOLLYWOOD RESERVATION, NOVEMBER 2016
“Y ou know each other?” Anna asked.
She listened intently to the strange woman’s heartbeat. There was something so familiar about the rhythm. It sounded vaguely like Igoshi’s. But where Igoshi’s usually was smooth, delicate, even, and gentle, hers was more accelerated, harder, unsteady, almost irregular. Like it was trying desperately to keep the beat, but kept missing a beat or become unsteady.
Anna wondered if it was the sound of a broken heart.
The two women didn’t answer. Anna didn’t need them to. She knew right away. “You’re sisters?”
“Yes,” Igoshi said with an exhale.
“Go ahead and tell her,” Ethel said. “Tell her the entire truth. Tell her what you did to me, and to her.”
Anna felt confused. Lucas was still in her embrace and had no intention of letting go. She didn’t want him to either.
“What is this about? Nanna?”
“Go ahead. Tell her.”
“Not now, Ethel. Not like this…” Igoshi said, her voice low. She sounded defeated. It frightened Anna. What could she possibly have to tell her that was so bad?
“You want the boy, don’t you?” Ethel said.
Igoshi sighed. “Yes. Of course, I do…”
“Then tell your granddaughter everything. Tell her who I am.”
Anna didn’t like the sound of this. It made her very uneasy. She felt her grandmother’s hand in hers, then sensed that Igoshi had turned to face her. Her rhythm grew disjointed, fragmented, the density low. She was sad. Having to say—whatever it was—filled her with deep sorrow.
“This, Anna…this woman is your grandmother. Your real grandmother.”
Anna’s heart stopped. Literally. At least that was how it felt. She stood, mouth open, her hand tight in Igoshi’s, her other arm around Lucas, paralyzed, while a thousand thoughts rushed through her mind.
“My…what? I don’t…I don’t understand.”
Igoshi swallowed loudly. Tears were rushing through the ducts to her eyes. Anna held back her own. She refused to believe this.
“What do you mean my real grandmother? What about you?”
“Tell her,” Ethel said. “Tell her everything. Don’t leave any part out, you hear me? Tell her what you did to me.”
I
goshi exhaled. Anna felt like pulling her hand out of hers, but she held on to it. She wasn’t letting go of her.
“Tell her how you killed me,” Ethel said. “And took my son.”
“Is this true?” Anna asked.
“I’m afraid it is,” Igoshi said.
“Why? W-w-hy would you do something like that?”
“I had to. You have to know this, Anna,” Igoshi said, holding Anna’s hand tight in hers, refusing to let her pull it away. “I had to kill her.”
“Why?” Anna asked.
“Remember how I told you as a child that there is evil out there, in the many worlds you travel to? Well, Ethel here is one of them. She is a traveler like you and me. She traveled in many different worlds, never settled on just a couple like you and I did. It made her feel powerful and strong, believing she could choose any life she wanted for herself at any given time. She wasn’t the only one. After a few years, she had ganged up with five others just like her and they traveled in and out of all the worlds like they pleased, and that was when the torments started.”
“Torments?”
“They tormented people for fun. In what they believed were just their dreams. They created nightmares, torturing people. They thought they were immortal and could do whatever they pleased. Thought it didn’t matter because for all they cared they’d never return to the world again where they had just hurt someone. At one point, it became so bad, they actually killed someone. A woman who ended up dead in the world your dad lives in now. She was a mother of three children. Woke up bathed in her own blood. The husband, of course, was accused of killing her. The children were orphaned. And that was when things turned from bad to worse. Ethel liked it. She liked killing. Suddenly, we started having more cases of people dying in their beds. Along with dozens of stories of people who had disappeared and turned up in places they had no idea how they had gotten there. They were pulling people out of one world and into others—how they did it, I have yet to figure out, but they were making a mess of things. Creating glitches and overlaps and interfering with the balance between the worlds. I had to stop them. We had to. Once I realized what my sister was doing, I brought it up with the elders, and they told me to chase them down and kill them in each other world they existed in, till they only belonged to one, where they could live their life like normal people.”