Line of Fire by Rachel Ann Nunes

Author:Rachel Ann Nunes [Nunes, Rachel Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, romance, fiction
Publisher: Deseret Book Company
Published: 2012-05-06T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

We climbed from the truck, and I led Shannon to an apartment building. Whoever made the talisman the old woman had shown us had once lived here, in one of the apartments—on the right side of the building, because it was closer to the bridge in the distance. The apartment had a balcony out the back so the shaman could gaze onto the Willamette, and it had to be high enough to see the water over the boatyard nestled between the apartments and the water, but probably not as high as the top two floors.

Craning his neck, Shannon counted the stories, six in all. “So maybe the fourth.”

“That’s my bet. But maybe the third.”

“With any luck, there will only be one back apartment on the right.”

It could still be on the left, of course, depending on the perception of the shaman when she’d imprinted on the talisman.

I did up the buttons on my coat. “Whether or not she’s still here is the question. It’s been fourteen years. And there’s always the chance there’s another apartment near the river and a bridge that gives almost the same view.”

The shaman also could have been visiting someone else when she imprinted on the talisman, but I wasn’t going to dwell on that possibility. Instead, I would think about Cindy living in this area with her mother. Safe for at least those three years, or possibly longer.

I felt a stab of sympathy for the dead woman, but there was nothing I could do for her now except to find Jenny and see her safely back to the people who loved her.

The old building had a door protecting its lobby, but the lock was broken. Inside, we found peeling paint, twenty-four old metal mailboxes set into the left wall, and outdated light fixtures. Even the marble stairs showed signs of wear—decades of use had worn off some of the rock. But the small lobby was clean, the lights were working, and several large and well-tended plants sat by the outside doors and to the side of the steps.

“Looks like the elevator works,” I said.

We rode directly to the fourth floor, where we found four apartments, two in the front and two facing the river. Shannon motioned to the back apartment on the right side. “Want to do the honors?”

I pulled off my gloves and held my hand over the bell. Imprints tingled. I let my finger rest on it without pushing.

Hurry, please open. We needed help. Desperation. With no money or insurance, this was the only place I could think to go. Maybe she would be able to help.

The imprint came from last week. I let my finger fall before another imprint began and smiled at Shannon. “She’s here. Or was last Wednesday.”

He rang the bell.

The woman answered almost immediately, as though she’d been expecting us. She was a tall, hardy woman, with a small, round nose, full lips, a wide face, and brown eyes. She looked regal in a black dress topped by a large, flowing purple and black scarf.

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