The naval base had an alluring yet haunting quality. The once-snow-white buildings were speckled with red, giving the appearance of blood splatter from a distance. The paint had slowly peeled, revealing the red bricks beneath. We’d managed to rent a four-bedroom cabin and unload our gear before heading out for groceries and a quick view of the base. A call from Karen had advised she wouldn’t be there until later that night.
I placed my hands in my pockets, a chill running through me as a feeling of overwhelming sadness sank into my bones. I can almost hear the cries of the wounded. The screams of the dying.
“Getting anything?” Gabriel asked.
“Just the creeps,” I answered. “Look for a place that might have a basement.”
“The two of you should go on without me.” Max wheeled back to the van. “I can wait here. My coming was a bad idea. There’s no way I could maneuver all those stairs.”
Gabriel pointed at the main building. “It looks like there’s stairs going down along the side. Stay here with Max, and I’ll check it out.” He took off at a fast jog.
“You should have left me at the cabin.” Max lowered the lift. “I’m useless. And he shouldn’t be running or going off alone.”
“Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Max.” I was torn between wanting to see for myself and my need to protect Max. “Without you and Calvin, we’d never have found this place. I don’t think this is it, anyway. I’d know if I’d been here.” Then his last words hit me. “What do you mean, Gabriel ‘shouldn’t be running or going off alone’?”
“He had a spell before we left the police department. His cancer is spreading. The doctor is giving him weeks, a month at the most. How long do we wait before we start worrying?”
I laughed, the sound odd to my own ears. The expression on Max’s face, jaw-dropping confusion, told me it was odd for him too. “I started worrying the second he sprinted in that direction before you told me about the cancer. I suspected as much. He’s losing weight and muscle tone.”
“That’s the first time I’ve heard you laugh since Salyer.” Max reset the lift and rolled the wheelchair next to me. “You’re acting like your old self. It’s good to have you back, partner. We’ll find Salyer and Emma.”
“I’m not really back, Max. I’ll never be the same as I was before.” I glanced down at him. “I wanted to talk to you alone, anyway.”
“I don’t think I like the sound of that.”
“You won’t, but I need you to hear me out.” I leaned against the van. “I made a new will before I left Beaufort. In the event something happens to me, everything goes to you on one condition.”
He turned away. “I don’t want to hear this. Nothing is going to happen to you.”
I pulled the picture of Emma from my pocket. Gabriel had passed it to me without Max seeing it. “You didn’t see this earlier.”
He glanced at the picture and smiled. “Her hair is Tristan’s, but she looks like you. A chubby you.”
I turned it over so he could read the back. His face paled. “No. I know what you’re thinking.”
“Please, Max. You’re the only person I know that I trust to raise her and love her the way I would have before Salyer. I need that promise so I can sleep at night.”
He cleared his throat and blinked rapidly. “Damn it, Dakota.”
I bent down and placed my arms around his neck. “Promise me.”
He nodded, wrapping his arms around me. “I promise.”
I hugged him then backed away. “Should I go look for Gabriel?”
Max rubbed his eyes and sniffed. “He’s only been gone about five minutes. The creepiness of this place makes it seem a lot longer.”
The building was huge, and if the basement was the same size, it could take an hour to really go through it. “I’ll give him ten more minutes, then I’m going in after him. These buildings don’t look very stable.”
Max cleared his throat again. “I’ll keep my promise, but what about Tristan’s family?”
“He didn’t have any. One sister, but she died last year.”
I’d tried to ignore the slight grayish tint to Gabriel’s skin and the fact that he was losing weight. I stared at the stairs he’d gone down. “All Gabriel wants is to kill Salyer before he dies. I think we can help him with that.”
“You don’t want to kill him?”
“I do, but it’s not something I need anymore. Gabriel needs it more than me. I just need to know Emma is safe.”
25
Gabriel silently cursed himself for not bringing a flashlight. The windows around the main room provided enough light to show the dire conditions, but unless the rooms beyond also had windows, his view would be very limited. “At least the floor is concrete.” He stepped inside gingerly, checking for ceilings that were falling in. A quick glance in the doorway to the right showed another empty room, not as large, with windows surrounding it. “Maybe they’ll all have windows.”
He walked slowly across the main room, glancing in the small rooms to the left as he went. The doorway straight ahead was darker, and he took a deep breath before stepping through to find another large room with only one window near the end. He was ready to turn around and leave when an oddity struck him. There’s no spiderwebs. He’d been in abandoned buildings before and had to hack his way through the sticky messes.
Gabriel turned his attention to the floor, which was littered with old debris and pieces of insulation and ceiling tiles. “There’s not a lot of dust, either. And no rats.”
The sinister feeling of someone watching washed over him. Dakota’s paranoia was getting to him.
“Gabriel!” Dakota’s voice drifted through the empty rooms.
“I’m coming out. Stay where you are.”
He headed to the front of the building at a fast clip, eager to escape the creepy sensation raising the hair on his neck.
When he reached Dakota, he said, “Empty rooms off two larger ones, which both have windows. I don’t see any way Salyer could use this to hide someone. There’s also graffiti on the walls, so it’s probably a teenage hangout. I think he considered it, though. There’s no cobwebs and not as much dust as there should be.” He glanced behind her. “Where’s Max?”
“He stayed with the van.”
They climbed the steps and reached the top together.
“This must have been a beautiful place at one time.” Dakota admired the tall columns in the front of the building. “I don’t understand why someone hasn’t done something with it.”
“Historical value versus monetary liability and gain. Let’s grab some groceries and head back to the cabin.”
A red Fiat was parked in front of the cabin when we arrived, and a pretty blonde climbed out of the driver’s seat and smiled.
“Karen?” I asked.
Gabriel nodded. “I should probably warn you she’s a little different.”
We exited the van, and Gabriel made the introductions. “You’re early.”
“It was that or go grocery shopping. Honestly, Gabriel, I’m not surprised you don’t have any mice. The poor creatures would starve to death in a week.”
I watched the interaction between them. They look like the relationship was more than doctor-patient. “Max, you can keep Karen company while Gabriel and I check out the cabin.”