Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1) (33 page)

“I’ll give her your message when she returns.”
  Her voice had a finality to it
, but
I didn’t want her to hang up.

“Wait!  Can you give me her grandmother’s phone number?”

“She doesn’t have a phone.”

“She doesn’t have a phone?”

“No, she lives a life of seclusion.”

“Well, what’s her grandmother’s address?”

“I’m sorry, what did you say your name was?”

“Daniel.  Daniel Gaskins
. 
I’m a friend of Cami’s from California.  I just need to talk to her.”

“That’s out of the question.”  I heard her hang up.  If it would have been possible to reach through the phone line and slap her, I would have.  Fine, she won’t give me the address over the phone
, maybe she’ll be more willing to give it to me while I’m standing at her door
.

*****

Six hours later I was on an eastbound plane.  I shook my head at myself.  This was stupid.  Cami was an adult
,
and if she didn’t want to talk to me, she didn’t have to.
  I had been pretty hard on her, but that’s how we were with each other.  If she thought I’d done something stupid
,
she’d be the first person to tell me.
  If I believed she was just avoiding me
,
I never would have boarded the plane.
  Something was wrong
. 
I could feel it.  She needed me.

As I transferred planes in Atlanta
,
I turned on my phone to see if Cami had
called me back
. 
I was surprised to hear
a voicemail
from my
father: “Daniel, I need you to call me as soon as you get this.”

He
never called to visit, usually only picking up the phone
when someone died
.
  I dialed his number while I walked to my next gate. 
“Hey, Dad, you wanted me to call you?”

“Daniel, where are you?”

“Why, what’s wrong?”

“You aren’t in Charleston, are you?”

“Uh, no.  Why would I be in Charleston?”
  I got a strange sensation
. 
I hadn’t told anyone but the lady at the ticket counter in the airport where I was going.  What the heck was going on?

“Well
,
where are you?  I phoned
your boss,
and
he
said you took a vacation.”

During the summer, I worked as a lifeguard on the beach in Carlsbad.  My boss looked at me like I was crazy for wanting to take some vacation days.  My job was every single guy’s dream
,
but finding a replacement for me was a piece of cake
,
so he told me to have a great time. 
I didn’t want to own up to flying to the east coast to check on Cami,
“You assumed I’d take a vacation to Charleston?”

“No.  No, it’s not important.  I just want to know where you
are
.”

“Uh, Dad, why did you
call
me in the first place?

“I received a call from Camille’s stepmother. . . it doesn’t matter.  So where are you?”

“
Cami’s stepmother called?  What’d she say?”  I wanted to add:
How would Cami’s stepmother have your name and number?

“Daniel, I’ve told you.  Camille is off
limits.”

“We’re just friends, Dad.  I’ve never looked at her sideways.  Something’s wrong, I can feel it.  She needs me.”

“Leave it alone, Daniel.  You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”

I’d made it to my gate
,
and the plane was already boarding
.  I was sure he could hear the intercom paging flights in the background.  “I gotta go, Dad.”

“Daniel! I don’t’ know where you are
,
but you’d better get back here now.”

I hung up the phone.  Maybe he’d think we got disconnected or something.  How in the heck did
Gretchen
know I was on my way there?  Better yet, how did she know how to get in touch with my dad?  Something was definitely wrong
,
and
Gretchen
was trying to cover it up.  I handed my boarding pass to the ticket agent and knew a team of wild horses couldn’t stop me from getting on that plane. 

After a
short fort
y-
f
ive minute flight, t
he plane touched down just after midnight.  The right thing would
have been
to get a hotel then give her new family a visit in the morning. 
But I w
as never known for making the best choices.  I got in a rental car, plugged the address into the navigation
,
and decided they were going to have a visitor tonight whether they liked it or not. 

My phone buzzed again
; m
y dad was calling me.  I hit “Ignore.”  I
’d
only
driven
fifteen minutes
before the navigation told me I’d arrived at my destination.  In front of me stood
a very large, very secluded estate
,
with enormous centaur statues
flanking the driveway
.  It looked like ever
y
light in the house was on.  “Huh, that’s odd.”  I looked at my watch
: 
almost 1 a.m.
As I pulled up the driveway
,
I noticed a man with his arms crossed standing just in front of the steps.  It looked like he was waiting for
somebody
. 

I stopped the car
and walked up to him
,
stuck out my hand and flashed my friendliest southern California smile, “Hi, I’m Daniel
. 
I’m looking for Cami.”

“I know exactly who you are.  Did your father not tell you to return home?”

I could feel my eyebrows raise when I answered,
“
He did, but I was already halfway here.  Where can I find Camille?”

“You can’t find her.  Go back where you came from.”

“Look, I don’t know what your game is
.  S
he came here for a couple days
. 
I haven’t heard from her since Monday night.  That was three days ago.  I just want to know that she’s all right, then I’ll be on my way.”

“Gretchen already told you, she’s staying with her grandmother in Florida.”

“Fine, give me the address.”

He leaned in, nose to nose
.  I knew he was trying to intimidate me
.  T
ruthfully
,
he had me by several inches and at least fifty pounds.  I didn’t know why he was being so hostile,
“You have no business with my daughter.  Return to your family before you put mine in danger.”

“In danger?  I just want to know that she’s okay.”

“You’re not welcome here.  Let your father explain why.  On your way – now!”
  He flicked his hand like he was dismissing someone beneath him. 
I was way pas
t
pissed.  I don’t know what possessed me to do it
,
but I took a half a step in his direction
,
and my fist connected hard with his jaw.
  I’m not sure what I expected to accomplish.  I hadn’t punched anyone since Billie Kennedy on the playground in third grade.  This didn’t look like it was going to turn out any better than that time.
 

William Strayer looked at me
. 
I saw
his pupils change from normal to
huge
– it was the first time I’d felt unfettered fear in my whole life
.  M
y punching him in the face stunt didn’t make him flinch but seemed to pour acid in his voice. 
“
Out of respect for your father, and only him, I’ll give you this single warning.
 
You’ve been told Camille is off limits.  If I see you near her again, I’ll
kill
you myself.  Stay away from Camille.
  Stay away from my family
.  Keep to your own kind.”

“My own
kind
?”

H
e turned his back on me and went inside the house
. 
I was furious.  I let my emotions get the better of me when I started pounding on the door, the windows, yelling at the top of my lungs, “Cami!  Cami
,
can you hear me?! Where are you?!  I just need to know that you’re okay!”  I don’t know how many chorus
es
I yelled
,
but my throat was going raw
,
and I was hoping the jackass would call the cops soon. 

To my surprise, a younger version of William Strayer stepped outside onto the porch.  “Hey, Daniel.  Let’s go for a ride,
okay
?”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!  I wannna’ see Cami, now!”

“Hey,
S
lugger
, she’s not here.  You’re about a heartbeat away from being stomped to death by my dad.   We don’t have to go anywhere, we can just sit in your car, but you need to get off the porch
before he removes you from it
.
”

“I’m not leaving until I see her.”

His voice was kind, and for some reason, I believed him when he told me, “Daniel, my name’s Beau.  I’m her brother and I promise you, if she w
ere
here
,
you could see her.  C’mon, just step down and I’ll tell you what I know.” 

We got in my rental and Beau sat down in the passenger seat.  “Look, I’m not sure what’s going on either.  All I know, I got home from work
Wednesday
night, and
Mom and Dad were freaked
.
  Her grandmother took her to Florida.
  Her car was abandoned a few blocks from here.
”

“But, that doesn’t make any sense.”

“Not to me either.  I know Mom and Dad won’t talk about it with us, but they were fighting like crazy last night.”

“Didn’t your mom want Cami here?”

“Are you kidding me?  Mom loves Camille
.  W
e all do
.  She was yelling at Dad, telling him he needed to go get her.  Something bad was going on there.”

“But he didn’t go?”

“He
went this morning
, but
her grandmother
put a sp . . . I mean, the estate was locked down. Camille’s grandmother won’t let Dad set foot on the place.” 

“How do you know she’s okay?”

“That’s the thing, we don’t.”

“So call the cops!”

“Dad already tried that
,
and they threatened to put him in jail.”

“So, no one can talk to Cami because there’s no phone
?
No one can get there because the gate’s locked?  If she’s in trouble
,
we have to do something.”

“Dad says he’s got a friend
who
is working to get her out, but
Dad
was essentially escorted to the state line earlier today and sent home.”

“Give me the address.  I’ll go.”

Beau looked down at the floor board, “Yeah, you need to talk to your dad first.”

“My dad?  What does he have to do with this?”

“Look, I can’t go into any detail, but . . . there’s no easy way to say this . . .
Camille’s special.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

“I mean, there are things her mom never told her about her family.”

“Angela told Cami that she didn’t have any family.  I knew her mom real
ly
well
.  S
he wouldn’t have lied to Cami without a reason.  Sounds like Angel
a
knew something like this could happen.”

“We all want her back as bad
ly
as you do, but if you try to go there, I don’t know what
her grandmother would
do to you
or her
.  It’ll be better for Camille if you don’t try to find her
.  Let my parents handle it
.”

“
What’s her grandmother’s name? 
I just need to know she’s okay.”

“
She’s Zandra Chiron. 
Zandra won’t hurt her.  I may not know much else, but I know that.”

I liked Beau.  Cami had told me about him
,
and I trusted him.  It didn’t mean I would follow his advice
,
but I believed him.